


In the Light

by DoctorMerlinReid



Series: In the Life (When Running Blind) [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Flash (TV 2014), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Brief mentions of torture, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, not a lot of knowledge about season two of flash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 81,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9850511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: Something goes wrong as Wally tries to get back to his dimension. He's transported somewhere else, somewhere new. Wally struggles through trying to get home again while dealing with new people who really aren't that new. Sequel to 'In Another World'.





	1. Chapter 1

WWWWWW

Wally groaned slightly as he shook his head. What was going on? His ears were ringing loudly, crying their displeasure at him in an endless annoying sound that was like ice-picks straight to his brain. He groaned again and tried to get his bearings. It was hard. There was something drastically different about him, but he, somehow couldn't put his finger on it. It was driving him crazy and giving him a wicked headache all at once. The nauseous feeling in his stomach and the ringing in his ears didn't help. Seriously, what was wrong?

Slowly feeling started coming back to his limbs and he stretched himself out, gasping in surprise when he realized that his legs were longer than before, stretched out and muscled instead of thin and gangly like they'd been back in the dimension with the Avengers. Did that mean he'd been aged back? He certainly hoped so. He ran fingers over his face, feather light and careful, ever weary of his enhanced feeling. His jaw line was much more prominent and defined, his cheekbones loosing the last of that baby-roundness they'd held, nose tilted slightly to the side from a blow from Grodd he just hadn't been able to dodge. It had been too long before he was able to set it properly and even rebreaking it hadn't gotten rid of the tilt. Artemis said it was hot, so Wally hadn't really complained. But it'd also happened when he was eighteen, meaning that he was aged back to his regular age. Wally let out a small sob, thanking whoever was listening for this. Now he could propose to Artemis like he'd been planning forever. He was still old enough.

Speaking of Artemis though… where was everybody? He knew that his ears were ringing to the point that he wouldn't have been able to hear an air horn that was right next to his ear, but still, shouldn't someone have grabbed him, hugged him, clapped him on the back, something? Surely someone would have been there to make sure that he was alright since he so obviously wasn't.

Wally stood up, arm flailing until it hit something that shuddered under his touch like it was about to be ripped away. He quickly gained his balance so he wouldn't have to lean on it very long. Coughing slightly, Wally stumbled a little bit away from whatever he'd been leaning on, hearing slowly coming back.

The first thing he heard was a scream, ripping out from someone's throat. Then the sound of roaring winds hit him and he suddenly became aware of it clawing at his clothes, the wind desperate to tear him away. Shrapnel tore at his suit, catching his cheek and smashing into his side. Wally gasped, stumbling backwards and trying to stay acquainted with the ground. His ears singled out a single voice in the mayhem, one that called out to a Barry person. Wally ground his teeth against his persistent headache and reached for the button on his headpiece that would find any comms pieces nearby and allow for him to hear the conversation. Whoever was talking hadn't turned whatever he was using to talk to this Barry person (it couldn't be his uncle, could it?) off and Wally could hear him and some other people talking about a black hole and disrupting it and something about stabilizing and fission and he didn't really understand anything but a woman's voice gasping that it was too dangerous.

And that was all the incentive he needed. Even though he felt like he'd gone several training rounds with a particular aggressive Superboy, he knew that he had to act because he was a hero and he was the one who was supposed to be in danger, not well meaning civilians. At least, he assumed they were civilians. He wasn't really sure. All he knew was that there was a black hole or worm hole or something opened above him and he was pretty sure he knew what he had to do to stop it.

So Wally jumped up a building, running as fast as he could. He heard a fire start behind him, but ignored it in favor of stopping the black hole. Priorities and all. And then he had to start jumping from piece of shrapnel to piece of shrapnel, doing his best to approximate where it was since, well, he couldn't very well see it. He heard the first person who had spoke making a surprised sound and then Wally was entering the black hole, still jumping from chunk of building to chunk of building. Only, he wasn't the only one. Another voice called out, "What are you doing?!"

Wally almost fell off of the car he was currently balancing on before moving to the next junk piece. He knew that voice. When he listened more, he knew that heartbeat. That too fast, rabbit quick heartbeat. That was… that was his Barry. That was his Uncle Barry! If he was running in a worm hole, though then he was definitely the Flash right now though, so Wally shouted back, "'Sup Flash! What do you want me to do to destabilize the worm hole? What do I need to do?"

Flash spoke into his comms, trying to speak quietly but Wally had super hearing, so that really wasn't working, "Doctor Stein! There's another speedster up here. You and Ronnie don't have to come up here! What do you need him to do?"

Wally heard this Dr. Stein person's response through his own comms device, "Have him run opposite you. No, that's not quite right. You are running left in a circle, so have him run up and down. The two of you need to run in circles that are perpendicular to each other."

Wally turned his comms mouthpiece on and said, "Gotcha, Doc! Will do!" He heard a startled exclamation and someone commenting on an un-hackable system, but he didn't care. He was here fighting alongside Barry again after eight months. He'd missed this so much. He was still pretty confused about what was going on and he didn't know a lot of these people and his wicked headache was just not going away, but it didn't matter since he was back home, finally.

When the black hole finally dissipated, it sent Wally flying, stumbling into a piece of debris and tumbling head over heels out of the hole, a chunk of metal slicing a gash on his cheek and bruising his ribs. But then he gained his feet and he was running/tripping down another building, rolling over as he hit the ground, gaining his feet again and running another hundred feet or so before he was able to stop the built-up momentum, faltering and dropping to his knees, slowly catching his breath and rubbing his ribs with a wince.

Then he heard a group of people come running around the corner. He recognized Barry's heartbeat and he recognized Aunt Iris's heartbeat, but the rest were completely unfamiliar to him and he felt a small stirring of unease low in his stomach. He set the Bat sense to the side for a moment, choosing to focus on the moment before dissecting the feeling. He whooped tiredly and said, "Dang, I haven't been out of breath in a while. We were pretty awesome, yeah? Stopping black holes and all that."

Barry spoke and his words shattered Wally's joy, making him wish he'd examined that Bat sense earlier. The Flash said, "Who are you?"

Still unwilling to admit what he knew was the truth, Wally laughed a little bit, ribs shuddering in pain at the action (maybe they were broken, not bruised). His voice was slightly worried when he said, "Ha ha, very funny. You totally could have come up with something better. Do I really look that different?"

Barry's voice was more uncertain, but also more suspicious when he asked, "Who are you? This isn't a joke. I have never seen you before in my life."

Wally's breath caught in his throat before he released it with some more nervous laughter, "I'm sure it's the suit. Seriously, though, is my voice that different? C'mon, you know me. Falcon. Remember?"

"Bar – uh, the Flash obviously doesn't know who you are. I think you are mistaken here." The voice previously identified as Doctor Stein said, sounding nervous. He'd almost said Flash's real name, but had stopped when someone nearby whacked his shoulder. That probably meant that everyone here knew the Flash's identity. If not, they could just get Martian Manhunter down here to wipe their memories of it. This was getting ridiculous and Wally wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Wally balled his fists and said, "Come on Uncle Barry, this seriously is not funny. You're really freaking me out which is not nice since I've been gone for eight months."

Barry asked in a small voice, "Uncle?"

At the same time, another voice asked sharply, "How do you know who he is?"

Wally's voice was just as small as Barry's when he directed his question to the entire group, "You really don't know who I am? Who Falcon is?" He got a round of negatives in response and his gut clenched painfully. There was only one thing to do and they'd really need Martian Manhunter after this. Wally asked, "How about now?" and pulled his goggles and cowl off in one smooth move.

His head started spinning again, making it impossible to focus on the barrage of 'no's' he was receiving in response to his question. In all honesty, they weren't even important. Not compared to… to… whatever was going on. Wally's breath caught in his throat and the last thing he knew before he passed out what the faces in front of him, a damaged building behind them. He could see again. And then there was nothing but comfortable, familiar black.


	2. Chapter 2

TTTTTT

The lab had broke out into cheering when Wally had disappeared in that flash of light. After a few moments of breathless laughs and man hugs, the group quieted down, stopping to listen to the cheering on the other side of the dimensional portal. Only, there wasn't any cheering. Tony, not caring if he broke up some sappy, girly moment, asked drolly, "A little quiet, aren't you? Or, are you the kind of people who celebrate with focused silences and intense stares?"

The voice that came back was easily recognizable as Batman, that low growl rather distinctive, "What are you talking about? Are you almost ready to send Wally?" For once, it wasn't the emotionless threat that hung on Batman's every word that caused Tony's stomach to plummet and a clammy sweat to hang on his brow. This time it was something much more serious. If Wally wasn't back in his home dimension and he wasn't here in this dimension, then where the heck was he?

Steve's voice was pale with shock as he asked, "He's not with you?"

Superman's voice started to hold the tremors of terror that were currently racking Tony's body as he responded, "No… he's not… he's not here. What happened to him? Where is he?"

An unfamiliar voice added in, "What have you done with him?"

Daredevil's voice was hard when he growled back, "What makes you think it was something we did? We were just giving him the push to your dimension. You were the ones who were supposed to be pulling him in!" After all the time Tony had spent with the horned hero recently, he could read the tense set of his shoulders and the clench of his jaw as worry and fear and anger. It was kind of actually terrifying.

The voice that had been identified as Impulse a while ago said, carefully cheerful, "Come on Green Lantern and, uh, Daredevil. Why don't we all just calm down? Flash is running a quick check around the world to see if he can find Wally. I'm going to go join him. We should be done soon. Just, calm down. It'll all work out." Tony had the strangest feeling that the hero was wearing a blinding smile that would be eerily reminiscent of Wally's. He kind of got that same impression whenever that Flash person talked too. Maybe it was just a speedster thing.

There was ten minutes of painfully tense, awkward, charged silence that even Tony didn't dare break. He took the time to check over all the machines, searching through all of the calculations and calibrations, the other scientists performing the same ministrations next to him. Finding nothing, he turned to his ultimate science buddy – Bruce – who gave him a worried shrug in return. That meant that either the mess up wasn't on their end, or there was something about these dimensional holes that was unprecedented even with all of their research. But what could it be? They determined that only speedsters could do it. And they determined that there had to be a massive energy source to cause the hole to be blown open. One had to aim the person too. The only reason Wally ended up landing in their dimension was the portal Loki had opened causing their dimension's hole to be blown wide enough for him to fit through. And – wait… no way. There was no way. Tony started doing the calculations, thinking over his idea further and hoping he was wrong. Maybe that Flash person and Impulse would get back and prove him wrong. He certainly hoped so.

But when the ten minutes were up and the people in the helicarrier heard the two speedsters skid to a stop in the other dimension (a person called Blue Beetle awkwardly trying to break the silence, "What took you guys so long?"), they regretfully informed the gathered groups that Wally wasn't anywhere they could find. Well, Impulse regretfully informed them of that. Flash didn't say anything. Until he did. His voice was tight with anger and sounded kind of… wobbly (Tony could only assume that he was vibrating so much that it affected his voice), "What went wrong? I want someone to tell me what went wrong right now!" That was actually kind of terrifying.

What was worse was when, a few moments later, Batman's low voice deepened with anger and the kind of terrifying-fear-inspiring-makes-villains-pee-their-pants voice that Wally had always told them about, "We're waiting." It was said in such a monotonous voice that Tony was seriously starting to wonder if the man was at all capable of emotions. Then he realized that this was probably not what he was supposed to be thinking about when Wally was missing and not in either dimension he's supposed to be in.

Bruce's voice was apologetic when he said, "We're doing our best to find what went wrong. We've checked over our machinery and calculations several times and can't find anything wrong. Steve is sending people out to search our world, but we don't really have speedsters on call to search it fast. It might take a while."

"It might also be a waste of time." Tony announced flippantly, trying to hide his worry behind an uncaring attitude like he always did. Hey, it worked for him, alright?

Flash's voice was suddenly kind again, imploring, "What do you mean? Did you find him? Did you find out what went wrong?" His words were almost blurring together they were going so fast.

Clearing his throat in the face of such honest emotion (seriously, he thought only Wally could do that), Tony's flippant attitude faltered a little bit and his voice was a little bit too serious when he responded, "I think… well, there's a chance that… I think he was sent to a different dimension. Not this one, not yours, but a third dimension. If they were having some sort of event like the portal Loki opened in our dimension, there's a chance that Wally was pulled into their dimension instead. Okay, I'm being completely serious here: we need to start calling our dimensions different things. This is getting confusing with all this your dimension, my dimension garbage."

Apparently no one was going to get onto that for a while because there was an open-mouthed, shocked silence permeating both dimensions instead. All the scientists and heroes in the room were standing there, shocked to their core at the idea. It wasn't the strangest reaction. What did this poor kid do in a past life that he deserved this? Seriously?

Suddenly Johnny spoke up, "We should name this dimension Marvel because we've got Miss Marvel and Captain Marvel. There's got to be something there. Plus, they're both awesome. Well, they're my friends, so of course they're awesome."

A new voice from the other dimension said excitedly, "Hey, I'm called Captain Marvel too!" His voice was deep like an adult's, but he spoke like an excited kid. Weird.

Then another voice from the other dimension spoke up, "I call this dimension being called DC!" It was the kid called Robin.

There was another silence, this time shocked for a different reason and more than a little bit confused. Tony had to laugh. Roy from the other (apparently DC) dimension asked, "Why?" He sounded so confused; that voice that said that the speaker was questioning someone's mental state.

Robin responded primly, "It means Damian and Colin are the cutest couple of course."

A girl's voice (Oracle if Tony remembered correctly from the small bout of introductions) spoke amusedly, "You are so lucky that everyone here knows our identities and that the people in the other dimension can't use it. Otherwise Batman would have had you cleaning the Batmobile for months."

"I'm doing it anyways." Batman growled.

"You can't do that!" Robin cried, "I'm a grown man! I don't even live in the manor anymore!"

"Oh, he can do that. Actually, I approve." Another voice growled (this was Nightwing most likely), sounding suspiciously similar to Batman.

A lighter voice laughed and said, "I think Robin was being sweet. Do you not think we're the cutest couple?" The voice had turned slightly pouting at the end. This one was definitely Abuse. Tony remembered him because his name did not match his voice.

Nightwing's voice was softer when he responded, "Of course we're the cutest beloved. Anything to make you happy."

The voice that had been formerly identified as Red Robin snorted, "You are so whipped."

Nightwing growled in response, "Say that to me again when my husband isn't around."

"You are such morons." The voice introduced as Spoiler snorted.

Red Hood responded sarcastically, "You're one to talk."

"Hey! Don't insult my girlfriend!" Red Robin responded.

"See Nightwing? Abuse thinks it's sweet. I'm sweet." Robin announced smugly.

"Of course you're sweet, cutie." Zatanna's voice said.

"Ew! PDA! I'm scarred!" Beast Boy and Impulse announced at the same time.

"You're girlfriend asks to be insulted. I mean, fatty can't even properly insult people back. The perfect victim." Red Hood said, seemingly bored. Tony was imagining a shrug going along with that statement.

Flash's voice cut through the mayhem of what Wally called the Bat Family, "Is everyone here forgetting the fact that my nephew is most likely stuck in a different dimension with no way of getting home?"

Everyone immediately shut up, eyes going wide. Tony grimaced to himself. Oh yeah. That. They should probably deal with that. The only problem was… how?

WWWWWW

Smell was, like always, the thing that came back to Wally first when he woke up. He was never sure why that was the first one that came back, but it was so familiar that he found comfort in it. So he let the scent of wherever he was wash over him. There was an overwhelming hospital scent surrounding him, maybe laboratory actually. Either way it smelled clean and filled with chemicals. He could smell people in the room nearby, his room blessedly empty. He could smell sweet, freshly cleaned linens on whatever bed he was on and he could smell the curious odor of generic shampoo coming from his hair. There was the cloying, musky, awful smell of blood coming from a corner of the room, but he ignored that. It was a scent that he'd gotten used to during his years as a superhero.

Touch came back next, his fingers bunching in the fabric that was probably meant to be soft but still felt like sandpaper against his skin. He ignored that too because everything was easy to get used to when it's been experienced for years. His fingers quested over his ribs, feeling the bandaging there and the bruised skin peeking out of the edges of the bandage. His hair was soft and still clinging to the last vestiges of dampness where it rested against his forehead and tickled his ears. His leg, sprawled slightly off to the side, shivered when it met cold metal, probably steel from the feel of it. It reminded him of a cuff and he determined with another shift of his leg that it was, indeed, cuffed to the bed he was laying on. Fantastic. Wally made sure to wiggle each of his fingers and toes and appendages just to make sure that everything was working fine. He could feel all of them move, so that was a good sign.

Hearing came roaring in next, hospital or lab machines beeping loudly (at least, to him) and making great whooshing sounds. The rustle of his bed sheets seemed like a huge waterfall to his ears, but he was used to that too. Not even straining his ears, he latched onto the heartbeats in the other room and heard one, three, five, six, seven heartbeats in the other room, people walking around and talking in low voices. He blocked out their voices for the moment, ignoring his inner Bat. There would be plenty of that later.

Taste came back after that, sending a burst of dry, sterile air through his mouth and down his throat. He tried to hold in the inevitable cough, but it came out anyways, pulling at his throat and tearing at his air. He pulled it in, trying to keep himself from coughing again. It seemed to work and his breath slowly came back to him. He hoped that no one in the other room heard him coughing. He wasn't quite sure he wanted them to know he was awake yet. He licked his lips, trying to give them some moisture, tasting diet coke – Peter's favorite soda. He remembered filching some of his drink when Johnny distracted him and then letting Johnny take the rest while he distracted Peter.

With that, memory came back, machines, counting, a bright white light, tearing winds, a black hole, Uncle Barry who wasn't really Uncle Barry but still seemed to be the Flash, and then – sight. He'd been able to see. There'd been buildings and faces. At least, Wally was pretty sure that's what they were. He hadn't seen those things in a long time in anything other than his memory and even though his memory was good, it wasn't that good. He was forgetting what things looked like more and more every day.

Curiosity flooded through Wally, urging him to just open his eyes and find out if his memory served him right and he could really see. Fear held him back. What if he couldn't see after all this build-up? He'd be devastated. So he kept his eyelids firmly closed. Wait. Eyelids. According to the doctors, his eyelids hadn't survived being stabbed. But he could feel his eyelids right now. If he had eyelids then surely, surely, that must mean that he can see. So he cracked one eye open ever so slowly, lashes catching together before letting go. He pulled the eyelids apart with the difficulty of someone who hadn't needed to perform such an action in years.

Bright white light flooded his vision, fading out with a few firm blinks. Now that the light wasn't taking up all of his attention, there were other things he could see. Machines stood in proud rows along the wall, standing to attention next to a counter that held more machines, scattered in some form of efficiency like every lab. The scientists knew where they wanted their things to go and woe to the one who decides to move it around. The room itself wasn't all that fancy, taking in a plain, clinical look with a few touches of personality that made it seem lived in all the same. Shifting his head the tiniest bit, a white sheet with small, faded blue flowers came into view, something underneath it preventing it from laying flat. Wally, with a growing excitement, shifted his legs. His excitement only grew as he saw the sheet undulate as he moved. This sheet was over his legs! He could see his legs! With a wry smile, Wally thought that he really shouldn't have to be so excited about that.

He put aside the bitter thoughts in favor of taking in more with his miraculously restored eyes. Wally lifted his hand up, seeing a pale shape that he recognized from his echolocation devices. There were five long, thin fingers that held only a couple of nicks here and there. His nails were short and clean, if a little ragged around the cuticles. Yeah he bit his fingernails, so what? Still, it was a whole different experience from biting fingernails to seeing the results. He hadn't seen his fingernails in… eleven years. Almost twelve with his little stint in the Avenger's dimension. Wow… he'd been blind for longer than he'd been able to see. As his eyes raked over his arms and the room, Wally thought about the situation. He couldn't be in his dimension. Uncle B would have recognized him. Unless he was in the wrong time? No, he didn't ever remember any black hole. Unless no one decided to tell him about it, but he doubted it. From his lectures via Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, Grandma and Grandpa Garrick, and the Rogues, he was pretty sure he had the entire history of Central City memorized. So… he was in the wrong dimension. Again.

Wally let his head rest back against the pillow underneath it, closing his eyes for a moment before missing the experience of seeing and opening them again. His gaze continued to rove around the room as he inwardly cursed his luck. What could have gone wrong? Everyone had checked their calculations over and over and over and over again, making sure that all of the machines were right. But he obviously wasn't in the right dimension. No, no, no! What went wrong?! Forcing himself to calm down and go over it more calmly, Wally thought. What pulled him into the Avenger's universe the first time? The portal. Loki's portal. Wally had theorized that the energy from that mixed with the energy of the MFD and the two combined to pull him into a different dimension as opposed to him simply being vaporized by the MFD. And in this dimension there was… a black hole. That stupid black hole was what probably pulled him into this dimension. Talk about bad timing. This was ridiculous! Why did this always happen to him? Not that he'd ever wish it on someone else, but it was still annoying as all get out. Sighing deeply, Wally decided that he was going to be more forthright about his situation with this dimension. His research had certainly increased in pace once he'd had the Avengers and Fantastic Four researching alongside him instead of trying to do it in secret under SHIELD's nose.

Still, Wally thought sleepily, he didn't have to tell them right now and he was pretty sure he could trust them since, well, his aunt and uncle were with them. Technically they weren't really his aunt and uncle, but he was too tired to care at the moment. So he let his eyes (reluctantly) flutter shut and let sleep engulf him. He had a moment to realize that the talking in the other room had stopped, but it didn't really matter at the moment. He was too comfortable.

BBBBBB

Barry was more than a little freaked out. He was having some serious difficulties coming to terms with all that just happened. Thank goodness for speedster thinking allowing him to get over all the freaking out before anyone really noticed. His friends were all freaking out too and he didn't want them to be even more freaked out by his freaking out. So he took a deep breath and started thinking. Fast. He didn't save his mother. He knew that he technically told himself not to (which was weird enough in itself that he wasn't even going to try to deal with that little issue at the moment) and he knew that he was glad that at least some of this wasn't going to change. But then Eddie had… had… Barry couldn't even say the word. He couldn't imagine how Iris was feeling. That whole Iris Allen-West issue was another can of worms that he was going to open at a later date. He'd gone into it a little bit, but he was not in the right frame of mind to deal with it at the moment. Then there was the worm hole. The worm hole. In the Central City. What on earth had his life come to when he's run inside a worm hole? Except, he wasn't the only one running inside that worm hole. Falcon was too. Whoever Falcon was. And he'd called him Uncle Barry. Barry wasn't even married yet and as far as he knew Iris didn't have any kids who could be calling him uncle. Although, he didn't seem like a kid. Late teens, maybe an adult. It was hard to tell with the costume.

The other speedster had taken his cowl and goggles off, revealing a joyful face twisted with worry. He had bright red hair and pale skin, freckles dotting across his nose and cheeks. His eyes were a bright, earnest green that captured attention. There were scars running over the edges of the speedster's eyelids, but his eyes had looked fine, which was weird. But then he'd fainted. He'd keeled over right there in front of them. The group had looked to each other for a moment before Caitlin started instructing people on what to do and getting him on the hospital bed in the lab. They'd patched him up as much as they'd needed to (which wasn't a lot since it seemed like he shared Barry's quick healing along with the super speed) and then left him cuffed to the bed, hoping that he wasn't able to vibrate through things like Barry was. It would be great if he just stayed there until they could question him.

Sighing, Barry brushed back his cowl, running his fingers through his hair and glancing up. No one had really moved during the time he'd been thinking. He hadn't been thinking long. The scarlet speedster saw that Iris was crying, tears splashing down her cheeks in slow motion. Joe was wearing a comforting expression that did nothing to hide the mournful feeling in his eyes. Caitlin and Ronnie were staring into each other's eyes, arms wrapped around their middles and feet practically entangled with each other. As Barry watched, Caitlin slowly laid her head down on Ronnie's chest as he stroked her hair. Cisco was bracing himself against the computer desk, hand warily passing over his eyes. Doctor Stein was behind Caitlin and Ronnie, calling his wife to make sure she was okay and to tell her that he was okay as well. They were all moving so slow. It was like he was on an entirely different plane of existence from them. He was moving normal speed, everything happening like it was supposed to, but they were all moving at a way slower speed. He could slow down of course, but it was an effort, a conscious decision to slow down to be able to function with the rest of them. Maybe this mystery speedster could understand that. Or maybe he was another Harrison Wells or Eobard Thawne or Reverse Flash or whatever he wanted to be called just waiting to happen.

They'd checked up on the ginger speedster earlier when they'd thought they'd heard him cough and move around a little bit, but he'd been sleeping. There was a chance that he'd woken up, but it hadn't been for long enough. Now they were just waiting for their chance again, resting while they were waiting, while they were safe for this brief moment.

But then there was the sound of movement again and a small little gasp, probably at the sensation of a cuff around an ankle because his injuries were healed so he wouldn't be in pain. Barry's head whipped up and towards the sound and he watched as the younger speedster tried to orient himself, scooting back up the bed a little bit before realizing that the cuff wouldn't let him. The speedster wrinkled his nose before kind of settling in again, before jerking upright. He felt over his arms and torso and just then seemed to realize that he wasn't in his suit anymore. Barry felt like this was the appropriate time to intercede, but Caitlin had beat him to it, rushing to his side and asking questions, "How are you feeling? Are you still injured anywhere? I need you to tell me if something hurts."

The red head blinked up at her, an expression of wonder crossing his face. Barry frowned; it was like the dude hadn't ever seen a person before. Caitlin pursed her lips, seemingly in concern. She probably thought that he had a concussion or something that she'd missed earlier. With the way he was acting, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise. But then the kid spoke up, voice hoarse, "I'm fine, thanks. I don't think I'm still injured anywhere. My throat's a little sore though."

Caitlin nodded, relieved that there didn't seem to be any lasting damage and that she'd done her assessment correctly. She was about to turn to grab a glass of water, but Ronnie was there first, the cup in hand and a smile on his lips. Barry had to grin as the couple shared a romantic look before Caitlin passed the cup to the smiling speedster in the hospital bed. By then, all of the others had gathered into the room, trying to stay as far back as possible so they didn't crowd the new guy. The ginger speedster, for his part, didn't seem to mind, just glancing over each of them with the same kind of wonder that he'd afforded Caitlin. Joe's voice was gruff, but purposefully calm as he asked, "We gotta know, kid, what's your name?"

The person frowned playfully, "I'm not a kid! I'm eighteen years old, thank you very much. And my name's Wally. I didn't quite catch all of yours before I passed out." He granted them a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly the same way Barry did when he was embarrassed.

Joe had looked amused as the kid (and Barry really shouldn't call him that because he wasn't that much older, but everyone called him a kid, so he felt justified in calling the only slightly younger person a kid as well) tried to deny being a kid, but the amused smile fell when he mentioned not catching their names. Was he lying? He'd known who Barry was. Why wouldn't he know who the rest are?

Barry decided to introduce them anyways, "You already seem to know that I'm Barry. The one you were just talking to is Joe. The nice lady who gave you the water is Caitlin and the one gazing at her with puppy love is Ronnie. This is Iris and next to her is Dr. Stein. And last but not least is Cisco over here."

The person nodded at each one, his eyes trained on every person named as if he were trying to memorize every single little detail about them. It was a little disconcerting to be honest. Cisco ended up speaking first, asking, "Dude, what's up with your eyes?" Barry gave him a strange look because, seriously? That was the question he went with?

The other speedster – Wally – frowned and touched his eyelids gently. It was obvious when he ended up reaching the scars because his eyes flew open and he sucked in a deep breath. He shook his head in apparently bewilderment and said carefully, "When I came here, it appeared to have pretty much healed my eyes, but it left the scars." It almost sounded like he was talking to himself.

Caitlin tilted her head to the side a little bit, "Something that would leave scars like that would blind you. Unless you healed fast enough that it didn't…"

"No," Wally started, the tiniest amount of bitterness seeping through, "It certainly blinded me. I was one hundred percent blind until I ended up here."

Joe's voice was confused, but still attempting to be tough when he asked, "What do you mean by 'here'? You keep saying that."

"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you that, like, right away, but I got distracted. So,I'mactuallyfromadifferentdimensionandthengotsuckedintoanotherdimensionandthengotsuckedintothisonewhenIwastryingtogethome." Wally let out in a rush, speed talking like only a speedster could.

And Barry was a speedster. Which meant he could understand him. Which meant that he now knew that Wally was from a different dimension and then went to another dimension and then got stuck in this dimension. Which meant that Barry was a little bit freaking out again because what? Different dimensions? This really wasn't his day…


	3. Chapter 3

BBBBBB

Barry was furious. Correction – he was beyond furious. They were… they were seconds, nanoseconds, away from getting his nephew back and then – bam – no nephew. Wally was still missing. How was this fair? How was this fair for anyone? The worst part was that Barry couldn't even spend as much time helping as he wanted to. Iris could have the babies any day and the second that happened, he needed to be there for her, as long as he could be. He loved his nephew to ends of the world, but his wife needed him. It was… it physically pained Barry to be in this situation. His family was everything to him and here was this moment that was forcing him to choose between his family. Luckily, the decision was made much easier by the knowledge that the situation was in capable hands. The Justice League and the Young Justice League were working their hardest to get this figured out. And on the other side there was the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and SHIELD along with a few other independent heroes.

Honestly, Barry wasn't really sure what to think of the other teams. Over the past couple of weeks where they'd been collaborating, he'd come to meet all the members of both teams and a few other scientists whether they be individuals or members of a team. There were Tony and Bruce (it was weird calling someone else Bruce when Bruce was in the room as Batman and wouldn't approve of being called Bruce; but then it also provided a sense of skirting danger, so it was kind of fun) from the Avengers. The two were some of the oddest friends Barry had ever seen and he saw Clark and Bruce (Wayne) being friends daily. The thing was that they were polar opposites. Tony was loud and brash and had an ego the size of Grodd's, but Bruce (Banner) was quiet and careful and seemed like any sort of attention was some sort of monster slowly attacking him. The only thing that seemed to connect them was their love of science, but even then they argued more than they agreed. It was always friendly quips and little suggestions, but they went about their experiments completely differently and had completely different theories. And yet, they still seemed to be (as Tony put it) 'best science bros'. Weird.

Then there was the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic approached the whole situation with some sort of unfeeling curiosity. It was like he didn't even care that he was researching this to get Wally back. Sue had assured him that that wasn't the case. She said that he just got into the science; that science was his way of coping. The other two – Ben and Johnny – had just hummed their agreement, helping out in any way they could.

Barry sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, pulling the cowl down and running his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply into the familiar movement. He was there for what felt like (for him) a long time before someone sat down next to him, not saying anything for a moment. Barry heard the distinctive sound of Batman's cape swishing into place on the ground. The scarlet speedster might not have his nephew's enhanced hearing, but memory fabric made a pretty specific sound. It was another long (for him) moment before Batman spoke, "We'll find him, Barry."

Peeking through his fingers, Barry saw that Batman had his cowl down. He was Bruce now. So Barry sighed and put his head back down, speaking honestly, "And when we do find him? He's been gone for over eight months, Bruce. He was alone in a world where he didn't know a single soul and he had to completely build himself from scratch. He must have been so lonely. He was de-aged too! That's got to mess with his mind! And who knows what his time with that Loki person did to him? He was tortured for a week, which, as you know, is a long time for speedster. And then Zoom shows up and then Wally gets sucked into the Speed Force and then he gets arrested and now he's stuck in another dimension where he still doesn't know anyone. If that doesn't emotionally damage someone, I don't know what will."

Bruce's face was twisted into a concerned frown when he answered, "Wally is strong. I dare say he's stronger than all of us. He's faced so much in his life and he never once broke or backed down. He always gives everything his best and that includes this situation. He will be alright." With those words, Bruce gave Barry's shoulder a comforting squeeze before he stood up and pulled the cowl back on, letting a scowl take over his features and becoming Batman. Barry just smiled and pulled his own cowl back on. There was no use sitting on the side lines. He had just been complaining about how he wouldn't be able to be there for Wally once Iris had the twins, yet there he was wasting his time complaining instead of working. He would spend every last minute working on finding his nephew so, once he had to leave, he could honestly say that he did his best. They would get Wally back. They would.

BBBBBB

Barry scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly. They'd all separated after that little bomb-shell from 'Wally'. Flash and Firestorm had marched a frowning Wally down into the pipeline, sealing him in and telling him that they'd come back in the morning after they'd talked about it a little bit more. He'd told them to wait, to just stop and listen, to let him explain, but Barry didn't even want to talk about it, to think about it. This was just some crazed metahuman who didn't know what was going on and had come up with some stupid, weird excuse in the form of alternate dimensions. Right? That had to be it. It had to.

His head lifted up as the person he'd been waiting to see sat down in front of him. Barry smiled tiredly, strain pulling at the corners of his lips and under his eyes. He reached out and grabbed the phone, watching as his father did the same through the glass partition. Henry grinned worriedly at his son before saying, "You've certainly been busy, son."

Barry laughed without humor, "Yeah, I guess I have." He sighed, pillowing his cheek on one hand and holding the phone with the other, "Eddie's dead, dad. He… he's dead and it's my fault."

"Oh Barry," his dad sighed back, "How do you know it's your fault?"

"Its… I did it. I went back in time to save mom, but… but then I didn't and… and it's my fault she's still… still gone too. But then I came back and I tried to beat Wells, but I failed and Eddie… Eddie shot himself – killed himself – so Wells wouldn't have even existed in the first place. But then… I don't know what happened! For a moment, everything was – not fine, but it was over. Wells was gone. The whole thing was over. Then the black hole started forming. The worm hole, the singularity, whatever. I couldn't even save Eddie's body. The singularity pulled it in. Because I was stupid and thought that Wells knew what he was doing and that a worm hole wouldn't open up over Central City. And now there's damage all over Central City. There are so many missing. So many families who'll have to bury empty caskets. And it's my fault."

His dad was pursing his lips and frowning heavily at his son, trying to convey his words through expression, "Barry. Barry look at me. Slugger," that finally got a reaction and Barry looked up, tears just barely forming in his eyes. Henry continued, "You can't put all of the blame on yourself. There were things you could have dealt with better, but there were things that were completely out of your control, things that you dealt with magnificently. There are others at fault here as well, but assigning blame won't get Eddie back or any of those people who are gone now. The only thing you can do now is to get back to being the hero you are and get back to fighting crime and inspiring hope and saving people. That is what the people need right now – a hero. And that hero is you, son."

"Thanks, dad." Barry sighed out, thankful for the wonderful fathers he had. Joe and Henry were the people who held him together over the years.

His dad's eyes were crinkled with that knowing look he always had as he said with a small smile, "That's not all you came to me for, was it?"

This time when Barry chuckled, it was much more genuine, "No, it wasn't. There's… this other speedster. I couldn't have stopped the singularity without him. He just showed up out of nowhere and when we confronted him later, he called me Uncle Barry. He knew who I was, but then he also called me Uncle. I'm not anyone's uncle that I'm aware of. Unless Iris has some sort of love child I don't know about. But then he tells us that he's from another dimension and that he was blind before and now he's not and he went from his dimension to another dimension to this dimension. Apparently there are different dimensions. Fantastic. I don't know if he's telling the truth or not. Something like that can't actually happen, right?"

Henry's gaze was sympathetic as he shrugged noncommittally, "We live in a city with black holes, a speedster, a metahuman who controls the weather, a metahuman who can look like anyone he wants to, and a telepathic gorilla. At this point, anything's possible."

Barry groaned and dropped his head to the countertop, smiling into the counter as he heard his dad's joyful laugh. They would figure this out. They would.

OOOOOO

Oliver groaned and rested his forehead against the wall. Punching the same wall hadn't helped him much, so he'd resorted to just leaning against it. Maybe the wall would magically form a portal and Wally would appear. Maybe Wally already has all of this figured out and he's on his way home right then. Maybe it took longer to get from one dimension to the other than they thought. They still weren't sure if what they did was the same as what Savage did, but the maniac was laying low for the time being so they couldn't even ask him. It was all so ridiculous! Since when was this his life? Groaning again, Olive pushed off the wall, feeling the muscles ripple under his skin. Dinah comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his shoulders, kissing him lightly at the junction between his neck and jaw. He leaned his head back onto her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair. She was so beautiful.

Roy walked up behind them, wrinkling his nose the way he always did when he saw them doing something that even vaguely resembled romance. He stopped a short distance away, leaning against the wall with one foot planted on it for balance. His face was set in its permanent scowl, but Oliver didn't mind. It was strange enough for him to see his son, let alone actually interact with him like he'd been doing more and more since Wally disappeared. The moment he'd heard the news, he'd tracked down Roy like he'd promised not to do, finding a dingy old apartment with a beautiful woman and a baby waiting there. The woman – Cheshire, an assassin, preferred to be called Jade at home – had called Roy out into the living room and told him that she and Lian (the baby) were going out. She'd kissed him on the cheek, whispered something that seemed like a threat if the paling of Roy's face was any indication, then patted his shoulder before walking out, sending Oliver a Cheshire grin as she left.

Then the two had talked – really talked, like they hadn't done since that day long ago when Speedy threw down his hat and said that he was going solo. They'd talked since then, but it was always stilted and accusatory. They were always blaming each other for something. Nothing they did had healed the rift between them, no matter how many times Wally tried to help. That was one of the worst things about it, actually. The look on Wally's face when they argued was always devastating. He'd sort of cringe back and stand in a defensible part of the room, the slightest vibrations in his legs showing that he was prepared to run. He always had this concerned little tilt of his eyebrows even when he mouth was turned down in an upset frown and his chin was held up with a proud vibe that said that they could hurt him all they wanted and he wouldn't cry out. It was heartbreaking to know that even after all these years he still felt that way. He still felt threatened.

And so the two had done their best not to argue while Wally was around, but that just meant that they didn't talk as often as they could have. But then, then Wally was dead and they'd spent the entire night screaming at each other, furious at the situation, at each other, at the Light, at whatever was close enough to blame. But then it was all out of their system and they realized that Wally was dead and that he wasn't ever coming back. They realized that they'd been stupid to fight this entire time, but it was too ingrained in them; they weren't sure if they were ever going to get back to the way they were. But they tried; for Wally. Throughout the months Wally was gone, Oliver got to know Jade and Lian, playing around with his granddaughter and talking with his daughter-in-law and learning about the family. He'd invited Roy over more often and the two of them and Dinah had often spent nights just watching movies on the couch like they were used to. Sometimes they'd get Barry or Hal to watch over Lian (Roy claimed that he didn't trust Dick with his child unless Wally was there and, well…) and then Oliver, Dinah, Roy, and Jade would go out on a double date which was awkward the first time, but got more and more fun the more often they did it.

So Oliver just nodded at Roy with the smile that Red Arrow always said made him look like an idiot and Roy nodded back, friendly scowl still in place. Then Artemis came up to the group, quiver on her back and finally back in green. Her lips were quirked down into a worried frown, her brow furrowing in the same manner. It was obvious that she was trying so hard to not show her distress, but, well, it wasn't working the best. At times like this, it was hard to be a hero like Oliver, Dinah, Roy, or Artemis. They weren't scientists. They weren't engineers. They had no idea what all of that jargon they were throwing around meant and that meant that they were pretty much useless. Well, they were put to work of course. They were glorified errand boys. They fetched the water and the food and lifted the heavy things and put things were people told them to. That was pretty much it. They were there to look pretty and it was frustrating because they couldn't help. They became heroes so they could help.

Dinah whispered in his ear, "You're thinking too much, Ollie. You need to relax."

He sighed against her, "I know, pretty bird, but it's hard not to. I just want Wally to come home safely. I need him to. He's my nephew. I've known him since he was nine years old and now, he's stuck in another dimension with, most likely, no way to get home. Why do things like this keep happening to him? Why him? I can't even do anything about it!"

Her voice was sad, but still soft when she answered, "I don't know, Ollie. But those guys in there? They'll figure it out. Wally will too. You know he will. We just have to trust them to do what we can't do. Okay? Relax now."

He turned in her arms, wrapping his own around her waist and nuzzling into her hair, "How did I end up with someone so perfect?"

"I've got a good eye." She grinned at him, seemingly carefree. He knew how to read the signs and see how frazzled she was, how heartbroken, but he also knew that she was trying so hard to project a look of happiness and relaxedness just for him, so he ignored them and smiled back.

When he looked up, Roy and Artemis were talking quietly about something, tears shining in Artemis's eyes as she told him something or another. Roy was rubbing her back comfortingly, his scowl melted away into a small frown. It was nice to see that the two of them had gotten closer as well. That had started the moment Wally made the first move and kissed Artemis. Roy had promised to always be there for Wally and that meant supporting his romantic choices as well, so he'd kind of been forced to like Artemis.

At that moment Roy looked up and saw Oliver grinning at them. He scowled again, glaring at his adopted father before turning back to Artemis and hugging her as she finished. His glare intensified as he looked over her shoulder and saw both Oliver and Dinah staring at them, grins splitting their faces. His eyes clearly conveyed the message that he'd kill them both if they told anyone about this moment. Oliver was the only one who saw Dick scampering away with his camera held between his hands, winking at Oliver as he turned the corner. As Dinah called out, "Come on, Star City heroes. I think it's about time to go home and watch a nice movie before going out on patrol. What do you think?", Oliver smiled at the people who've fought with him and helped him protect his city. They were his family and he loved them. But another member of his family was somewhere in another dimension at this very moment, alone and probably afraid. But Oliver pushed that from his mind, focusing instead on Wally's immense intelligence and his determination to see everything through. He smiled to himself and walked after Dinah, thinking that Wally sure ran into a lot of trouble, but he always managed to get out of it with a smile on his face.

OOOOOO

Oliver rolled his eyes at Felicity as a gust of wind blew through the new hide out, sending anything lightweight and not yet fastened down careening across the room. The Green Arrow turned to see the Flash pulling his cowl down in front of him, plopping down on a chair with a little huff of breath. Felicity launched out of the desk chair and pulled Barry into a tight hug, exclaiming, "You're okay! I was so worried! The news was saying that there was a black hole in Central and then it said something about a streak of red light going into the hole before someone confirmed it was the Flash but then the camera went off and it went back to the news castors who had no idea what was going on and I was so worried!"

Barry gave off a little strained laugh and said, "I'm fine, Felicity. All limbs still attached and everything." Oliver frowned at Barry. He definitely wasn't fine. There was a weary set to his shoulders and a grief tightening the edges of his forced smile that said that he wasn't even close to fine. And, with a little prompting from his girlfriend, Oliver found out why Barry seemed so upset. Eobard Thawne. Saving his mother. Not saving her. Eddie's sacrifice. Leaving his body behind. Running into a singularity. Another speedster. Different dimensions. It was all too unreal. Oliver always told Barry that Central City was all sunshine and lame villains, that Star City was much more serious and dangerous, but moments like this made him glad that he was Star City's hero and not Central City's. He knew that he couldn't deal with all of the things Barry dealt with. Most of the villains he faced were nigh magical and had abilities that were on an entirely different level. They weren't human. But neither was Barry.

It was hard to reconcile that in his head sometimes. On the one hand, he would call Barry in Central City and the kid would be in Star within minutes. On the other hand, he had a crush on the person who was basically his sister and he just wanted his dad to be out of jail. He was so obviously not human one minute and so painfully human the other. So Oliver chose to focus on the part of Barry was that human because that he knew, that he could deal with. And right now, Barry was showing his human side. Oliver would just ignore all of the different dimensions and worm holes and time travel and just focus on his hurting friend. So the Green Arrow stooped down next to the chair Barry had claimed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder, smiling at the hero sat in front of him. He spoke gently, calmly, "I just want you to know, Barry that we're here for you whenever you want and for whatever you want. We just want you to be happy, because you deserve that. Why don't you stay the night in the guest room at the house? I think you need at least one night away from Central. I'm sure someone will call you if they need you."

Barry nodded wearily, a much more genuine smile on his face as he stood with Oliver's help, speeding out of his suit quickly. The three walked out of the base together, talking about nothing and trying to reassure the others that their worlds weren't going to fall apart because they had each other. Barry definitely ran into a lot of trouble, but he always came out with a smile on his face.

JJJJJJ

Jay Garrick wasn't quite sure what to feel. There was crushing sadness for a while when the man he considered to be his grandson had died to save the world. Then there was a time of elated joy when it turned out that his grandson was alive and looking for a way home. And then there was the unbearable feeling of having been cheated when that grandson ended up in yet another dimension. That was where he was currently at. Joan, bless her heart, seemed to have taken the news quite well, smiling at Jay and telling him, "If that boy's alive, then he'll come back to us," before going back to her baking. She was determined to make sure that Wally had enough to eat when he got back.

The first Flash smiled at his wife who simply smiled back at him. He leaned back into his chair and rested his head against it, looking down the length of his nose at the TV currently playing baseball. There really wasn't anything he could do but wait and see what happened. He was sure it would all work out in the end.

JJJJJJ

Jay stepped out of some sort of portal. This was bad. This was really bad. He wasn't on his Earth anymore. This must be the place that Zoom had been going. And he'd taken Jay's speed away too. It was… it wasn't a pleasant experience to not be connected to the Speed Force anymore and Jay really couldn't wait for the moment where he got his speed back. Now, all he needed to do was find out a little bit more about this Earth. He'd see what he could do and then he'd do his best to fix everything. He needed to save this world from Zoom. He needed to. Well, Jay shrugged to himself, there really wasn't anything he could do but try and see what happened. He was sure it would all work out in the end.


	4. Chapter 4

WWWWWW

Wally was bored. Okay, that was an understatement. He was practically dying of boredom. And stress, but mainly boredom. It had been, like, days since they'd put him in their little version of a prison (alright, he'd admit that it probably hadn't been days, but as a speedster it felt like that long). They had put him in there without giving him a chance to properly explain but, honestly, that didn't even bother him that much. What bothered him was that he didn't have a lot of stuff to see anymore. It hadn't taken him long to memorize the details of the cell (six foot wide, six foot long, ten foot tall, metal, metahuman abilities suppresser, glass outer door, built not quite square, oranges and blues and blacks and silvers, inescapable) and now he was bored. Wally rested his head against the back of the cell and slid to the floor, tucking his knees up to his chin. He rested his head there and slowly (for a speedster) put his hand out in front of him, just looking at it. His hand was bare, just pale skin showing through. There were a couple of freckles dotted across the knuckles and the back of the hand and his nails were starting to grow a little long. Just like with his hair, his nails grew inordinately fast and he had to cut them on a pretty regular basis. It had taken him a while to get used to it, but Lizzy (his physical therapy person from Gotham) had taught him that upfront, telling him that it was the little things that he needed to know how to do on his own first.

Wally nestled his chin further into his knees and put up his other hand, comparing the two. They were almost identical, the only difference being slight shifts of the freckles and a little crook to one finger that had healed really crooked and hadn't been able to be exactly fixed, like his nose. Letting out a tired breath, Wally shut his eyes and massaged his temples. Being able to see hurt. It gave him the wickedest headaches. It made sense, of course, because he'd relied on everything else and now all of a sudden there was this strange, unused muscle that was suddenly sending messages to the brain, receiving images like it hadn't done in over a decade. And that frustrated him. It made him feel so… so… worthless. How bad does he have to be to finally get his sight back and then not jump at the opportunity, instead complaining about the headaches it gives him? It was pitiful!

It also wasn't his fault, Wally reasoned, trying to wrestle control of his whirlwind of emotions. It wasn't easy. His mind was skipping from self-hatred, to frustration, to optimism, to anger, to hope, to joy, to sadness and he just couldn't keep up and that stupid headache wouldn't go away.

Wally paused. He forced his heart rate to slow down, breathing deeply and stopping his thoughts for a moment. He just needed a moment to not think. He'd been non-stop thinking since, well, since Loki captured him, weeks ago. From then on he'd been thinking about being tortured, meeting Savage again, being rescued, telling people his secrets, Matt getting mad, finding a way home, saying goodbye, ending up in yet another dimension, getting stuck in this pipeline. All he'd been doing is thinking, thinking, thinking and it was wearing him out. He'd have plenty of time later. For now, all he needed to do was relax. He deserved it. He was a speedster; he could afford it.

He'd just gotten settled into a comfortable position to meditate in (Batman had demanded it and Daredevil had enforced it. Even Artemis made him do it) when the door to the pipeline opened, a great mechanical whirring noise that he hadn't been prepared for, making him wince, his eyes still resolutely shut.

He slowly, carefully, opened his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the barrage of sights. He blinked owlishly, seeing the one they'd called Cisco standing in front of the door, an awkward expression on his face and a large bag of what looked like food in his hand. As the man pressed a few more buttons and sent the tray of food into the cell, Wally really looked at him like he hadn't had the state of mind to do earlier. Cisco was kind of short and not muscly, but not that out of shape either. He had shoulder length black hair and a tan complexion with dark brown eyes that were trying their hardest to be intimidating. He wore a nerdy t-shirt and slightly ratty jeans over his tennis shoes. A watch adorned one wrist and the other was hidden within his pocket where he was fiddling with something or another.

The food finally made its way into the cell and Wally cautiously stood to grab it. He opened it up and was surprised to see the amount of food there. This was actually a legitimate amount of food for a speedster. They were actually going to feed him the right amount of food. The shock must have shown on his face because Cisco chuckled a little bit and said, "Yeah, we've got a speedster and we know how much he needs to eat. We figured it'd be the same with you." There was a pause where Wally immediately started digging in (figuring that if there was poison, his metabolism would deal with it and conveniently forgetting that they worked with a speedster and would know how to poison a speedster to the point that it actually affected him) before Cisco spoke again, "You said your name was Wally, right?"

"Yeah." Wally answered around a mouthful of food, enjoying the sight of it almost as much as he enjoyed the taste.

Cisco nodded, apparently not prepared to deal with someone who ate like they were famished (which Wally was). The scientist then squared his t-shirt clad shoulders and raised his chin, going for intimidating again, "Prove that you're from another dimension."

"Okay." Wally swallowed, "What do you want me to do?"

"Uh…" Cisco frowned, putting his finger in the air before frowning and tilting his head again, "You know, I'm actually not quite sure. I hadn't thought that far." Wally grinned at him, smiled genuine. He got a small, almost smile in return before Cisco announced, "I'm going to go back to the Cortex and see if we can find a way to test if you're actually from another dimension."

"Wait!" Wally hated how panicked his voice sounded right then, but decided to ignore it for the time being. He ducked his head a little bit, feeling as well as hearing the blood rush to his cheeks, "Um, would you like to stay while I finish eating? Maybe we can share?" He was grasping at straws, but he hated being alone and this way he could have someone on his side if the time came where he'd need it. But mostly because he hated being alone, especially in this brand-new world that was almost his world, but not quite.

Luckily though, the look Cisco gave him said that he understood; that he knew the feeling. The two shared another small smile before Cisco walked a little back and grabbed his own meal, plopping down in front of the cell and taking a long draw of his slushie. Cisco spoke first, "So, dude, I totally believe that you're from another dimension and I think that's totally awesome. Are there doppelgangers? Like, is there a Cisco Ramon on your Earth?"

Wally's eyebrows shot up and he nodded, "I didn't recognize you because, well, I used to be blind, but now that you mention your whole name, I definitely know you! You do have a double on my Earth. Not on the last one I went to, though. The last one I was at didn't seem to have any doubles."

"Amazing. What am I like? I bet I'm awesome, right?" Cisco said, smile lighting up his face.

"Yeah," Wally said, smiling back, "you're pretty awesome. You're a superhero named Vibe. You're a metahuman who can create super powerful shockwaves. You can break concrete and steel. Someone once said that you could shake the world apart with your shock waves. I met you a couple of times. Especially when you were training under Batman, one of my mentors."

"So I've got crazy awesome fighting skills?" He was nodding in excitement, grin making him look so happy and Wally realized he'd been missing out on a huge part of conversation when he couldn't see the expressions other people were wearing.

Wally responded, "Yeah, you do. Although, you came in with some great break dancing moves and you use those when you fight a lot."

Cisco's face seemed to light up even more, which Wally had formerly thought to be impossible. Then the grin seemed to deflate a little bit, along with his posture. He leaned into himself a little bit, shoulder-length black hair falling over his face, "I think it would suck to have powers."

"You don't want to be a hero that helps people?" Wally asked curiously. He wasn't judging. It took a lot out of person to be a superhero. It was painful and it was lonely and a lot of friends die in the process. Every loved one is at risk and everything has to be a lie to those who don't live the life. He understands why people wouldn't want to take up the crime fighting life, but he also knows that he'd never give it up.

The scientist shook his head, idly playing with the straw of his drink, "I mean, I'm already helping people. I show Barry where to go and I help improve his suit and build him tech so he can catch more metas and so he doesn't get hurt while he's helping people. I helped build that cell you're in right now."

Wally smiled sardonically, "You'll pardon me if I don't fully appreciate that fact."

That startled a laugh out of Cisco who smiled up at Wally, some of his previous gloom gone. It wasn't all gone though, and Cisco soon became more serious again, practically mumbling, "I don't want powers though. I don't want to deal with them and I don't want them if it means that I got them because of the stupid particle accelerator explosion."

Wally tilted his head to the side, a habit he wasn't likely to ever grow out of, "What's the particle accelerator explosion?"

Cisco bit his lip, obviously conflicted about telling Wally this. Wally kept his expression neutral, letting the engineer decide for himself. Eventually Cisco sighed to himself and started to explain a little bit about the dimension that Wally found himself in. He told him about the great Dr. Harrison Wells and about getting a job at Star Labs with him. He told Wally about working day and night on the particle accelerator, meeting Hartley Rathaway and Caitlin Snow and Ronnie Raymond. He talked about the accelerator messing up and sending a shockwave across the city, creating metahumans left, right, and center and hitting one Barry Allen with a particle accelerator induced lightning bolt that sent him flying into a bunch of chemicals. He gave some brief details about Barry's time in a coma before the man woke up and became a hero.

Then it was Wally's turn to share. He talked about going with his mother to the chemical plant that day, about watching the lightning come towards him before striking him and sending him flying into the chemicals. He told Cisco about the four month coma and then losing his sight the next day (he didn't get into much detail about that, only mentioning that he ended up in an orphanage after that) and about hating his powers. He mentioned getting adopted and finding out his uncle was the Flash and learning to love and use his power and dealing with enhanced hearing and becoming a part of a group of superheroes. He skipped over a lot of the rest, going into a little detail about the mission that led to the MFD and his trip to the other dimension and then talking about that dimension a little bit before explaining his getting to this dimension.

Both were long stories and by the time they were done, the two were sitting close to the glass, smiles on their faces and a weight off their hearts. Sometimes it was good to just tell strangers about oneself. It was a relief, a way to get everything out without worrying about the repercussions that come from telling someone who knows you. But what neither of them had accounted for was Barry coming down to the cells because Cisco had been gone so long. And Barry didn't seem very happy. He dragged Cisco away and around the corner (obviously not knowing about Wally's super hearing) and started talking, "What are you doing? We thought you were going down to 'your room' to go tinker on some stuff and then when I got there to check up on you, you're not there. Instead I find you talking with this guy. What if he's dangerous?"

"He's trapped inside the cell. He can't get me. Besides, I don't think he's dangerous. I think we can trust him." Cisco announced.

"We thought we could trust Wells too and look how that turned out!" Barry hissed. Huh, Wally thought, apparently Cisco hadn't gotten that far yet in his story telling. He never mentioned Wells doing anything bad.

"Wally isn't Wells, Barry. Look, I know it's too soon and I know this is crazy – I'm living this stuff too – but I think we should give him a chance. He doesn't want to mess with your plans or screw anything up. He really just wants to get home." Cisco argued.

"He's probably lying." Barry countered.

"That's a pretty in depth lie then because he basically just told me his entire life story." Cisco pointed out.

"Wells had us fooled for how long? Months?" Barry responded bitterly.

Cisco sighed, "I know Wells was just here yesterday and you just watched your mom, you know, again and Eddie just, well, yeah. It's been a bad couple of weeks and everyone's just super stressed, but not everyone's Wells. I know that you trusted him and you thought that he was your friend, your mentor, another father figure and he turned out to be so, so evil, but that was him, this is someone else. I can get not trusting him completely. I get that. It's only logical, but keeping him from getting home? Keeping him locked up in that cage like some sort of criminal when the only thing he's done is help save Central City from a black hole and call you uncle? That's not fair to him. Just because you have trust issues doesn't mean that you have to take it out on him. Do you think I don't have trust issues? Do you think Caitlin doesn't have trust issues? That didn't stop Caitlin from patching him up and it didn't stop me from giving him food and company. I think you should give him a chance, Barry."

Wally, eyes closed again, listened for a long time to the sound of silence as Barry mulled over Cisco's words before he heard the speedster in question sigh and say quietly, "Alright, I'll go talk to him now. But this doesn't mean that I'm going to let him out. This just means that I'm willing to give him the chance to talk his way out."

"That's all I wanted to hear, man." Cisco responded with the sound of someone smacking fabric (probably Cisco's hand patting Barry's shoulder). The two older men came around the corner and Cisco winked at Wally, knowing about his enhanced hearing, before grabbing his garbage and leaving Wally alone with Barry (he had to force himself to think Barry and not Uncle Barry).

There was a terse silence before Barry said, "I don't trust you. I think you're most likely lying and I don't want to let you anywhere near my friends where you could hurt them."

"I don't want to hurt them." Wally replied honestly, wishing for a hint of his Barry there, but desperately hoping there wasn't at the same time.

Barry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the wall, "Tell me about the me from… your dimension."

So Wally did, looking down at his lap as he did, "You were born to Henry and Nora Allen. Your mother was murdered when you were a kid and your dad went to prison for it. You always loved science, especially chemistry, so you got a scholarship to college and had a masters in chemistry and a minor in criminology after three years. You started working at the CCPD as a police scientist and you started dating reporter Iris West. You got struck by lightning and became the Flash. You married Iris and joined a team of heroes. One of those heroes – Batman – called you one day and said he wanted you to meet his newest adopted son, said he had the same powers as you. So you came and he told you that I was actually your nephew. Aunt Iris had a brother who'd emancipated himself from the family because he felt like Grandpa Ira was favoring Iris too much. A couple of weeks later, you and Aunt Iris finally told me that we were related. Eventually I became your sidekick. You were late to everything and you always pulled everyone together, making sure that they didn't just fall apart. You make the corniest puns all the time, especially with your villains. I'm pretty sure that you and Captain Cold have some sort of competition on who can say the most corny puns in a single battle."

When Wally finally looked up, Barry was frowning, not even looking at him anymore. Wally took the time to study this man who shared the same name and powers and heartbeat as his uncle. Barry had brown hair that sat atop his head in a fluffy little windswept pile, laugh lines spiraling out from the corners of his eyes and the space around his mouth. He had a freckle here or there and he was tall and lanky, bordering on scrawny although Wally wouldn't doubt that there were muscles underneath the sweater he was currently bundled up in. But then Barry's green (?) eyes had snapped up to his and were looking at him intently. He said, "You said you were blind how did that happen? How are you not blind anymore?"

Wally winced; he hated telling this story, "My father, Iris' brother, found out I had gotten super powers. He found out that I was a metahuman and he decided that the world would be better off if I couldn't use my powers. He didn't know how to take away my speed, so he did the next best thing and stabbed by eyes out with a kitchen knife." Wally resolutely ignored the sharp intake of breath from the speedster on the other side of the glass and continued, "I'm pretty sure the reason I'm not blind anymore in the actual trans-dimensional travel. When I went from my dimension to the last one I was on, my enhanced senses and my speed way increased. So I think when I went from that dimension to this one, I got my eyesight. We figured out that my going from one direction to the other ends up with my molecules basically disassociating and then coming back together again, so there's a chance that something happens during the rearranging that ends up benefitting me. I'm certainly not complaining."

Barry tried to speak, but his voice cracked. He tried again, "How long had you been blind for?"

Wally wrinkled his nose, "Well, I was blinded when I was seven. I got sent to the other dimension when I was eighteen, so that's eleven years. I was de-aged for about eight months, so… eleven years and eight months. Ish."

The brunette speedster shook his head, "I don't know how you do it. I wouldn't be able to function without sight."

"Eh," Wally shrugged, "The enhanced senses helped although they're almost a hindrance now."

"Hindrance?" Barry questioned, leaning forwards a little bit and examining Wally as if he could see what was wrong. There was a hint of his Uncle Barry. Uncle B always did that exact same thing when he was concerned (which was all the time because he was just a big mother hen). It was painful to see that same move in this Barry who still didn't seem to trust him.

Wally ignored that in favor of shrugging again, "It's no big deal. I'm just not used to being able to see, so now I'm using all of my senses to analyze the surroundings, but I'm also getting a bunch of info from my sight, which my brain is not used to and it's giving me a bit of a headache. But it's fine." He tried to add a convincing smile on at the end, but wasn't sure if it came off convincing or not.

Either way, Barry sighed before pressing a few buttons. The door slid open and Wally stared at the older speedster in amazement. Was he seriously letting him out? Just in case, Wally stayed back, hovering near the exit. Something in Barry's gaze softened and he moved his head to the side, indicating the exit, "Come on. Why don't you come formally meet the rest of the crew?"

Wally smiled, relief lowering his shoulders. He and Barry walked (aka ran ten times faster than an Olympic gold medalist sprinter) to the 'Cortex' as Cisco called it. Wally just hoped that they could figure this out and he would be able to finally, finally go home.

AAAAAA

Artemis struggled to fall asleep. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and drift into a dreamless night. She used to relish the dreams she had about Wally (romantic candle lit dinners and him sweetly proposing), but then he'd 'died' and suddenly dreams about him seemed more like some sort of exquisite torture. Even when he'd been a dimension away and able to talk to them, dreams about him still hurt because he wasn't there with her. And therein laid the problem. Wally wasn't there in bed with her, so she couldn't snuggle up to that human furnace and fall asleep cocooned in safety and warmth. Closing her eyes and resting her cool forearm against her forehead, Artemis let her mind wander. Unsurprisingly, it drifted back to that conversation a couple of weeks back.

Artemis had been in her room in the new base centered in Antarctica, brushing her hair and humming lightly to herself before a voice had spoke out from next to her, "Hey babe."

She'd startled so bad that she'd dropped the brush, the plastic thing making a weird clank-thud noise as it fell. She'd recognized the voice, though, and couldn't even be mad that he'd caused her to drop her brush. Artemis had exclaimed, "Wally!"

His chuckle had been rich and warm even if it was a little younger than she'd remembered it, "Did I startle you? I'm pretty sure I heard something drop."

"You're mistaken, then. I can't get startled." Artemis answered primly, sticking her nose in the air even though he could see her. That reminded her, "How are we doing this right now? I thought you were in jail or something right now."

"I am. It's a rather lovely cell with practically nothing in it. Super exciting. My guess? Loki knows how to work magic even in those magic-cancelling bonds of his. He probably did something that let us talk to each other directly even this far away from the hole." Wally answered. Artemis could drown in the sound of that voice. It was everything she ever dreamed of and she loved him so much and she wanted that voice to actually be next to her, not distorted through dimensions.

Artemis laughed quietly, "Well, tell him thank you from me. Actually, don't. He's the one who held you captive, right? Didn't he torture you?"

"No one's going to let him live that down, are they? He might have been the one who caught me, but he's also the one who noticed when I was getting sick. He was the one who took care of me and helped me escape. He's not all bad. He's getting better." Wally responded earnestly. She could practically see the puppy dog face he undoubtedly had on. When it was time for dinner, he and Brucely always wore the exact same expression and Artemis could never help but laugh and ruffle her boys' hair.

She rolled her eyes and responded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. This is coming from the same person who plays darts with his mentally insane villain and learns how to play instruments from another one of his villains."

His voice was worryingly strained when he responded, "Maybe we could not talk about villains right about now?" He phrased it as a question, but Artemis knew that he was more begging her to not talk about villains. It was obvious he was still hurting over the whole Zoom, Speed Force thing. Now wasn't the time to confront him about it. He still needed time to mull it over.

So Artemis's voice took on a softer tone as she obliged, "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

There was a moment of silence, which worried Artemis. Wally was never silent, especially around her. Then he spoke up, his voice nervous, "I don't know if we'll ever find a way to make it back to the dimension you're in. I don't know if the Council will even let me out to try to get back to my dimension. I don't know if I'll survive the trip back."

Artemis interrupted, "Don't talk like that, Wally. You're freaking me out."

He kept going, "With all those unknowns, with no way to know if this is the last time we'll ever get a moment alone together, I have to get this out. I love you, Artemis. I love you more than anything else in the world and I never want to lose you. Ever. I know you, so I know you found it. I want to marry you, Artemis. There's a chance that I won't make it back to you, so I want to say this now, I want to do this now. You are my everything and you are the most special person I've ever met. Everything about you is perfect for me and I'd run to Pluto and back for you. So, Artemis Lian Crock, will you marry me?"

It was as if the world stopped spinning beneath her feet. The air was sucked out of her and tears started gathering in her eyes. It took her less than a second to answer, "Yes. Yes, yes, yes!" Her giddy laughter was soon joined by his and she couldn't think anything other than: this was so much better than she ever dreamed of. She'd imagined romance and flourish, but this, this was perfection. There was something about the fact that they were a dimension away, that he was currently in jail and she was alone in her room, that made this that much more serious, that much more powerful. It proved to her that their love spanned dimensions and she wasn't going to let that go. Ever. So she'd said yes and she'd taken the ring from where she'd taken to wearing it around her neck and she'd put it on her ring finger, smiling. The two had talked the rest of the night away.

Artemis sighed as the memory faded. As sleep reached for her with its inky tendrils, she pictured Wally and smiled to herself, knowing that he would be home soon. Hopefully.


	5. Chapter 5

IIIIII

Iris was… well, she was nervous. She wanted to hold her head high and say that she wasn't nervous, that she wasn't frazzled, but that would be flat out lying. With Eddie… with Eddie gone, she was lost. Iris had always known that she was an independent woman and that she wouldn't need her eventual partner to baby her and protect her and she'd always known that she wouldn't rely on her partner, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel like something had been ripped out of her chest the moment that gunshot had sounded out. Iris had loved him – still did, and that wasn't going to go away any time soon. So she'd just have to get used to the gaping hole in her chest that ached within her day in, day out. But now there was another speedster. Iris had only known two speedsters. One was so, so good and the other was unimaginably evil. One had saved her so many times and the other had caused her fiancé to die, had killed Barry's mom. All in all, Central City didn't offer a lot of background in speedsters. There was a fifty, fifty chance that he was evil and a fifty, fifty chance he was good.

The new speedster looked like a good person. With slightly shaggy, curly, unkempt bright red hair and pale, pale skin and a healthy sprinkling of freckles; he looked like every teenage girl's dream. Being tall, lean, and obviously muscular with the addition of bad boy found in the crooked nose only making him that much more appealing. The only thing off-putting about his appearance was those scars that crisscrossed his eyes. They were unnatural-looking. Then again, so was the way he looked at people. Iris had never seen someone stare so intensely at another person before. There was something in the way his vibrant green eyes focused on you and flickered ever so slightly, fast enough that you could tell he was using super speed, which was unnerving. That was the way he was glancing around the room right then, eyes flickering over everything three times before moving onto to a different part of the Cortex. There was a sort of wonder to his expression that almost made it normal, though. It was obvious that he hadn't been lying about having been blind. The awe that decorated his face made it very clear that it'd been a long time since he'd seen anything.

That was kind of sad, actually. Iris found herself wanting to reach out to this new speedster who looked so lost and so hopeful at the same time. She found herself wanting to go and hug him and tell him that everything would be okay and that they'd figure out what was going on and send him home. But then there was a sort of danger in the way he stood, the way his shoulders tensed minutely that made her want to step back and leave him to his own devices. It was quite the contrast.

And then those eyes were on her own and Iris felt her breath catch in her throat. Those eyes were such a bright, emerald, jade, intense green that studied her as if they were learning everything about her with a single flick and filing that knowledge away for later. Suddenly she forgot why she felt he needed protecting. This was a predator that stalked his prey in the night. But then a goofy, crooked smile overtook his face, reminding her so much of Barry and washing away that terrifying emotionless observation that it had held before. He walked over to her and she could see a little of Barry in the way he moved – limbs fast but purposefully slow, movements frustrated because he could be going so much faster – and then he said, "I don't think we really got a proper introduction. My name's Wally West-Wayne. It's a pleasure to meet you."

That huge, bright smile took over his face again and Iris couldn't help the small grin that spread across her face as she answered, "I'm Iris West. It's nice to meet you too. Sorry about this whole situation. We were caught pretty off-guard." She noticed her dad coming up behind her shoulder and without even looking knew he was wearing his 'protective cop face'. She inwardly rolled her eyes and then introduced him, "And this is my dad, Joe West. Say hi, dad."

He grunted out something that could have been a hi and Wally kind of shrunk away a little. There was a moment where Wally looked away for a moment and Iris hit her dad, motioning towards Wally with a jerk of her head. He shrugged at her with an attempt at an innocent expression and she just narrowed his eyes at her. And then Wally was turning back with a small little smile on his face that made Iris feel like he knew what just happened even if he was looking away. Then she remembered someone mentioning something about enhanced senses and realized that he probably did know what just happened. Her cheeks burned, but she resolutely ignored that, giving her dad another pointed glare. He sighed and held out his hand for Wally to shake, "Hi, I'm Joe West, Barry's dad."

Iris couldn't help but smirk at the expression that took over Wally's face. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes slid over to where Barry was standing before shooting back towards Joe. His mouth opened a little bit before he seemed to realize that what he was doing could be construed as rude, so his eyebrows scrunched back down again and his mouth snapped closed quickly. Iris took pity on him and said, "Barry was adopted into the family."

Wally made a little "Ah," sound a kind of glanced around like he was waiting for someone to rescue him from this conversation. It was a look Iris was well acquainted with. A lot of her and Barry's friends had that look when talking to her dad for the first time if he didn't approve of them. If he did like them, then he was the world's coolest dad. If he didn't, well, they would hang out somewhere other than Iris's house.

Just then Cisco came over and slung his arm over Wally's shoulder, eliciting a small smile and a friendly rib jab and rolled eyes. Iris was confused for a moment, not quite sure when they became so close, but then she looked closer (she always had her reporter eyes on) and saw that Wally wasn't as close as a friend would be, keeping his distance and still maintaining a stance that made it so he could get away at any moment with little resistance from Cisco. It was kind of sad to see. And the curiosity was killing her. A reporter's instincts always came out, "Why are you so defensive? You haven't relaxed at all since we first saw you." Apparently her voice was louder than she'd thought because the other conversations died down and everyone's heads swiveled in their direction.

Wally smiled a small little smile and said, "My training, I guess. Batman's pretty paranoid and he makes sure that all of his protégés are too. And I mean, growing up a little bit in Gotham made it kind of hard to not be on your guard all the time. Gotham's not the best place for kids. Don't get me wrong – I love Gotham. It's my home and I'd protect it to my dying breath, just like I would with Central City and Palo Alto. But there are a lot of super villain attacks. I remember Joker coming around a corner one time and an entire family dropped to the ground and rolled beneath a car in one, fluid, practiced movement. That's how common it is to be caught in the crossfire with villain attacks. That with Batman's paranoia means that I rarely have my guard down."

"That sounds even worse than Star City. And Star City is bad." Barry commented, having apparently walked over while they were talking. Caitlin, Stein, and Ronnie had all gathered closer as well.

Wally smiled again (Iris got the sense that he smiled a lot whether he was actually happy or not) and said, "Is there a Green Arrow in this dimension?"

"Yep. There's a Red Arrow and a Speedy and a Black Canary and an Atom too." Cisco supplemented.

The younger speedster tilted his head and frowned a little bit, "There's a Speedy and Red Arrow at the same time? In my dimension, Speedy became Red Arrow after he went off on his own. Weird that there's a difference in that. It's the little things that are different."

Cisco shrugged and responded, "I mean, Red Arrow used to be Arsenal, but Speedy is a completely different person. Is Arsenal a different person from Red Arrow in your dimension? Or was there no Arsenal?"

Wally winced, allowing a crooked smile to take over his face, "Well, that's a little complicated. You see, there's this criminal group called the Light that caused all sorts of problems. Years ago they'd kidnapped Speedy and then kept him in cryogenesis for years. They cloned him and then let him out as Speedy. He didn't even know that he was a clone. And then he threw down his hat and became Red Arrow and then realized that he was a clone. He started obsessively looking for his original self and finally found the original Speedy. When Speedy came out of cryogenesis, he was furious that no one noticed that Red Arrow was a clone. That was when he went off on his own and became Arsenal. So it's a little complicated."

Iris was aware that she was staring at him in complete shock, but she was consoled by the fact that the rest of them were giving him the same look. That poor other dimension version of Roy (at least, Iris assumed it was still Roy in that dimension). Iris couldn't help but imagine this dimension's Roy going through that and she felt her heart clench painfully. That would be so awful. The urge to start typing up a story about this hero made her fingers itch with need, but this hero wasn't from her dimension. His story wasn't hers to tell even if she wanted to make sure that everyone knew the things he went through in the service of the public. That was something that Iris regularly struggled with. No one knew the truth of what went on behind the Flash's mask. They didn't know about the horrible things Barry had gone through before he even came to live with her. They didn't know about the brave, intelligent boy who loved science and got mercilessly bullied especially after Henry supposedly murdered Nora. They didn't know about the betrayed man who trusted Harrison Wells only to find out that Harrison Wells was the cause of so many of his problems. And she couldn't tell them. She couldn't tell them about how Eddie had sacrificed himself to stop Harrison Wells from killing them all. There were so many secrets she had to keep in this life, but she knew it was nothing compared to the secrets some of the others had to keep. Barry had to hide his speed every moment of his life, always working hard at making sure that he suppressed his powers so people didn't find out about him.

And looking at this other speedster, this Wally, Iris could tell that he knew the same pains that Barry felt, that Oliver felt, that those mysterious men and women known as heroes felt. How do they do it, Iris wondered. How do they continue to fight for people who call them monsters and evil? How do they fight for people who blame them for the world's problems? They'd have to have an endless supply of patience to deal with it all and still continue to give everything up for these people. And yet, here was this eighteen year old that seemed like he'd been a hero for a while now fighting tooth and nail to protect the people. How did he do that? How did he give up his childhood to don a superhero suit and give us his time and his family and his whole world for people who wouldn't appreciate him, wouldn't know what he went through? The idea of a teenager out in the world having to deal with the kind of things Barry dealt with – the kind of things Oliver dealt with – ripped through her heart and burned at the back of her eyes. She wasn't this boy's aunt like he'd mistaken her for originally, but at the moment that didn't matter. She just wanted this poor young speedster to have a happy life. She wanted to help him get home to his family, to the people who loved him and who he obviously loved.

She was broken out of her reverie by the sound of Caitlin, Cisco, Barry, Roy, and Stein laughing at something Wally had said. The redhead in question was blushing a little bit, obviously having not been prepared for the reaction he got. From the absolutely befuddled expression on her dad's face, Iris presumed that it had been some sort of science joke that was just told. Stein wiped his eyes in mirth and smiled excitedly at the young speedster, "So you are a science fan?"

"Oh definitely! I think it's a speedster thing actually. Most of us like science. Then again, we process things at a greater speed than average people, so we can keep up with science pretty well." Wally answered enthusiastically.

Stein nodded with the same enthusiasm, "Why don't you come over here and explain the science behind how you were planning to get from that second dimension to your home dimension? Do you remember the formulas?"

"Yeah, I do! There might be some things that are a little different from one dimension to a next. I know there were some elements and stuff that existed in the second dimension that didn't exist in my dimension. There were also some scientific advancements that one had that the other didn't, so we'll have to make sure that all of that stuff is the same or else we'll have to do some extra calculations to align our units and scientific processes." Wally enthused, speeding over to the clear board that Stein had gestured to. He was already speed writing a bunch of formulas, occasionally erasing things and going back through them. Stein was staring at the board, mouthing things to himself as he tried to keep up with the math and concepts, Cisco mimicking him on his left. Ronnie was smiling and rolling his eyes indulgently off to the side where Caitlyn was curled into his side. Joe left, muttering to himself about hopefully being needed at the station. That left Iris and Barry standing together near the computers, watching the entire scene with a satisfied eye. They'd been through so much, but for just this moment everything was calm and everything was alright.

Iris spoke without turning to face her adopted brother, "Do you trust him Barry?"

He could hear the furrow in his brow when he answered, "I don't know. I'm terrified to trust after Wells, but at the same time, I can tell that he isn't Wells, that he isn't anything like him. And he's just a kid. But then he's obviously a dangerous kid. I mean, look at the way he holds himself, the way he shapes his words. If you processed things like I did, you'd see his hesitation as he waited to decided and work through what he was about to say before he said it. Why is he being so careful? I mean, I know what he said, but how do I know I can trust him? But then he's also another speedster and I could learn so much from him. There's too much I don't know. There's too much that's already happened that makes it hard to believe anything. Do you trust him?" Barry did turn to look at her, his huge eyes pleading with her to give him something to work off of other than his own cynical opinions biased by pain and betrayal.

"Oh Barry…" Iris sighed, rubbing one of his arms gently and giving him a sympathetic smile, "I can't tell you how to feel about all of this. I can only say that I don't trust him, but I believe him. There's something in his eyes that tells me that he's telling the truth. There's no sign of trickery in his eyes so I know that he truly does just want to get home. That doesn't mean that I'm not concerned, that I'm not worried about what he'd do to get home, what staying here could do to him, but at the very least I believe him."

Barry's shoulders drooped and he sighed, rubbing his face vigorously with both hands and looking up at where the others were clustered around Wally before sighing again and saying, "Yeah okay. I'll give this a chance. I'll do my best to help him. Maybe it's time I got a sidekick anyways. We'd certainly surprise Central City with that."

Iris laughed and Barry gave her a grateful smile that was only a little bit strained at the edges and Iris realized that this was the first time she'd laughed since Eddie passed away. This was what people like the Flash brought to the world. This is what speedsters bring to the table, Iris thought as she watched the group surrounding Wally laugh at something he'd said, a crooked smile splitting his face as he gazed at them in childish wonder. Iris jostled Barry with her elbow and laughed as he mock pouted and rubbed his side tenderly. The only thing civilians like her could ever hope to do was try to bring a little bit more of that joy back to the heroes. And she'd start by making sure that Wally was as comfortable as he could be here in this dimension while they figured out a way to send him home.

BBBBBB

"Einstein, Newton, and Pascal are hanging out one afternoon. Einstein is bored, so he suggests, 'Let's play hide-and-seek. I'll be it!' The others agree, so Einstein begins counting. 'One… Two… Three…' Pascal runs off right away to find a place to hide. But Newton merely takes out a piece of chalk and draws a mid-sized square. He finishes and steps into the square just as Einstein shouts, 'Ready or not – here I come!' He says, 'I found you, Newton!' Newton replies, 'No, you found one Newton per square meter – You found Pascal!'" Wally announces randomly.

Barry choked a little on his milk, startled and laughing and drinking at the same time. He coughs and glances over to where Wally is sitting at the table, feet scuffing the ground occasionally like he's forgotten that his legs are long enough to touch the ground now. His eyes are bright and earnest, but they aren't facing the people at the table, instead glancing around Joe, Barry, and Iris's house like his life depended on him memorizing every little fact about the house. Wally turns back to them and adopts a guilty expression, probably noticing the startled and confused glances of Joe and Iris. Barry decided to have pity on him, saying, "Two chemists walk into a bar. The first says, 'I'll have some H2O.' The second say, 'I'll have some H2O too.' The second one dies."

Wally's face split into a grin and he started laughing, the sound coming out startled. Barry chose to ignore the judging expressions of his adopted sister and father and beamed at Wally instead. The two speedsters just beamed at each other and Barry realized that he was already starting to like having this rambunctious youth around. The red headed kid had been with them for just under a week now and he was already growing on all of them. He was bright and willing to help out with anything (including cooking and cleaning which he claimed was so much more fun when he could see) and seemed to be constant ball of energy. There were a couple of moments where Wally's smile dimmed and a contemplative expression decorated his face and there were moments where he would close his eyes and massage his temples like it physically pained him, but the vast majority of the time he was sunshine personified.

Iris eventually shook her head at the two of them and let out a small little laugh, "Alright, why don't we get going? Cisco wanted to test your fighting skills after dinner tonight. He's going to run you through an obstacle course and then he'll put you against Fire Storm and then Barry and then the two of them together. He'll see how you do against each of them. But you can say no at any time you want. You don't have to do this."

A single fiery eyebrow rose as Wally's lips curled into an amused smile, "Yes mother." He teased. Barry watched as Iris stuck her tongue out at him and he returned the favor. He just rolled his eyes alongside Joe and tossed out the pizza boxes. They were lucky that Harrison Wells had left his entire fortune to Barry (a fact that disturbed him endlessly but he still wasn't afraid to use STAR labs and the money; he'd been going out with Wally to rebuild Central City at night using Wells's fortune to pay for the repairs) because they'd been blowing through money getting enough food for two speedsters.

When Barry zoned back into what was going on, he noticed Iris by the door getting her shoes on and reaching for her keys. And then it all slowed down. Barry turned in real time to look at Wally who smiled at him, moving at the same speed. They grinned at the same time and then they were off. Barry grabbed Joe and flew into the distance, Wally keeping time with him with Iris in his arms. The two speedsters laughed as everything blurred past them, Joe and Iris frozen in shock, moving with infinitesimal slowness presumably to hold on tight.

It was moments like this that Barry always found to be the most beautiful. The freedom that he felt here, on his own little world was exhilarating and calming at the same time. But it also got lonely. No one else knew this. They didn't see the beautiful blurring colors that were somehow decipherable at individual things. They didn't feel time slow down around them, people moving at a speed that you could really see them, really understand them. But now someone else was here who understood that. And it kind of felt like Barry was introducing it to him. Barry got to watch his eyes widen in shock and amazement every time they go for a run. Wally seemed to enjoy this part the best too. He'd once admitted that this was his favorite part about being able to see, the ability to see faces in a close second.

And then they were there, braking quickly in front of Cisco who just stood still for a moment and blinked before taking a sip of his drink and walking past them, far too used to the experience of someone racing in with super speed. He called out behind him as he walked away, "Caitlin, Ronnie, and Stein are already in the room we're testing you!"

Wally opened his mouth to respond, but abruptly closed it when Iris smacked the back of his head and started straightening her hair. Barry laughed until Joe treated him to the same experience. That stopped him real quick. Then Wally had the nerve to laugh at him. Barry mock glared and Wally just grinned more. The two burst out laughing. Barry hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Wally was apparently just what they'd needed to lighten the load around the place. Barry smirked, "Race you to the room."

"You're on." Wally announced. And then the world was bending around them again as they tore off, leaving the rest of the family standing in the Cortex with amused expressions on their faces and a leisurely stroll leading them the same direction as Wally and Barry were going.

In the end, Barry and Wally tied, skidding to a stop at the same time, Wally skidding a little farther as he tried to stop in the right spot. Caitlin calmly rearranged her dress, Ronnie obligingly patting her hair back into place. Stein didn't even seem to realize that the two had entered the room.

Barry started in surprise when Cisco clapped his hands together loudly and then rubbed them together, smiling gleefully, "Alright, let's start with the obstacle course. Avoid all of the obstructions. Some will be static, but others will pop up at random and eventually we'll have Barry here throwing things at you at super speed." His voice lowered and he started fiddling with he controls, "This is going to be fun."

Wally sent the engineer a startled look, everything so open on his face because he hadn't learned how to make it so his feelings didn't show in his eyes because he hadn't needed to do that until recently. Then the younger speedster shrugged and pressed a button on the ring that Barry had always seen him wearing. Barry, the only one who could see it properly, watched in surprise as the suit popped out of the ring, Wally jumping up to stick his leg in one side and touching down for a moment before sticking his other leg in and doing up some zippers with one hand while pushing his other through an arm, his head going through the whole. His hands switched jobs and soon he was standing in front of them all with his suit on, quickly pulling the yellow material over his head, his hair flowing out over the top and red goggles pulled over his eyes quickly. Cisco suddenly said, "Do you want goggles that you can actually see through?" Barry frowned, turning back to look at Wally, noticing for the first time that the goggles were opaque.

Wally sent Cisco what seemed to be an apologetic smile, "Nah man, these are good. I haven't trained with sight yet so I want to show you what I'm normally like."

"Okay dude, whatever works for you I guess." He shrugged, mumbling something else under his breath that Barry couldn't hear, but the fond smile that Wally wore told him that Wally could hear it just fine. Cisco spoke up, "Alright, onto the track with you. Just keep going around until we say stop. Have fun!"

Even as he spoke the last words, Wally had already taken off, tearing across the track and dodging around obstacles and obstructions with practiced ease. He ran up a wall, kicking off at one point and flipping back into a running position instead of just running back down the wall at a later point like Barry would have. It was amazing to watch. Barry couldn't understand how Wally did it. He ran at super speed. He knew how easy it was to not be fully paying attention and accidently run into a pole or something. Which was not fun. And also embarrassing. Especially in front of his villains. Moving past that, he couldn't imagine how much focus Wally would have to put into doing something like this without his sight. Then again, he'd been training with his super speed for longer than Barry had had his super speed. It was still impressive. And also a little bit concerning. As Barry started throwing dodge balls at the kid, watching him avoid all of them, he realized that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to beat Wally during their little mock fight.

Then Cisco was calling time and Wally was slowing to a stop, running out of the track on his way to slowing down. Cisco, his voice tense with an effort to hide his amazement, said, "Cool. That was all I needed. I just wanted you to run the thing one hundred times."

Joe's voice sounded a little choked off as he asked, "He just ran that one hundred times? That fast?"

"He's pretty much the same speed as Barry on the obstacle course." Cisco replied distractedly. Joe turned his incredulous gaze onto Barry who just shrugged uncomfortably. It really wasn't all that big of a deal. Cisco finished entering things into his computer and announced, "Now it's time for you to go up against Firestorm."

Wally sped back into the obstacle course (everything had moving into the walls, floor, and ceiling leaving a wide open space for them to fight in) and stood in a fighting position, poised with an incredible grace that Barry didn't quite understand. Ronnie let go of Caitlin and grabbed hands with Stein, fire already wafting from them before they'd even finished the transformation. Barry always thought that was the coolest thing to watch. Wally seemed to agree because he'd taken his goggles off to watch the merge, wonder sparkling in his eyes. And then he saw Firestorm flying towards him and his face took on a more serious expression, the goggles being put back into place at super speed.

And then Wally was tearing out of the way, the spot he'd just been standing now a scorch mark on the floor. He flipped backwards a couple times as Ronnie continued to shoot fire at wherever he was, but then he was back up against a wall, Ronnie bearing down on him. Barry was a little disappointed. He hadn't thought that the fight would end so soon. But then it didn't. Wally raced out from under where Ronnie was floating, going faster than he'd been going before and Barry understood what he'd done. Wally had purposefully down-played his speed so Ronnie would feel confident that he could hit Wally before Wally ran underneath him, but then Wally had dialed up the speed and got out before the fire hit the ground. He kept going, though. Before Ronnie and Stein could turn around fully, Wally had raced over to the other side of the room and ran up the wall, going fast enough to even run on the ceiling before coming down the other side near where Ronnie was. Firestorm lifted his hand to shoot another globe of fire, but Wally beat him to it, pushing off the wall and tackling Firestorm mid-air, bringing them both to the ground. Wally rolled off quickly, obviously unprepared for the fire that latched onto his uniform when he tackled the flaming man. Ronnie took the opportunity to launch himself back in the air again, throwing a few more fires at Kid Flash as he'd told them he was called in that get-up.

Kid Flash dodged out of the way before seeming to deliberate a moment. It was only a second and then he was off again, running in what seemed to be circles. Barry understood immediately. He was trying to build up a tornado fast enough that Ronnie would get stuck in the middle of it. Hopefully the wind would put the fire out and Ronnie would be defenseless. It worked perfectly. As his flames left him, he started to fall, a startled expression crossing his face as he flailed his arms uselessly for a few moments. Wally ran up and launched off the wall again, catching Ronnie before slamming him into the ground and slapping a pair of handcuffs on him before he could retaliate. Then he sped a little ways away and watched Firestorm warily. Ronnie lit up and focused the fire on his hands, obviously trying to melt the handcuffs but, amazingly, they didn't melt at all. Eventually, he stopped trying and let the fire go out, shouldering the floor three times to show that he yielded. Cisco cheered, Caitlin booed, and the rest clapped politely, impressed by the entire display.

Wally sped back over to Ronnie and pulled the handcuff off, helping him to his feet. They shook hands and Wally pulled his goggles off to better see his opponent. Ronnie and Stein separated and Stein asked curiously, "How on earth did those cuffs not melt? We can reach incredible temperatures."

"My friend Mr. Fantastic showed me a formula for this substance that can go on anything and withstand ridiculously high temperatures. He was the leader of this group called the Fantastic Four and one of the other members was this kid named Johnny Storm who went by Human Torch when he was fighting crime. His entire body lights on fire and he basically becomes a ball of flames, but sometimes when he gets excited he can set things on fire too and Mr. Fantastic wanted to make sure that things around the house were fireproof. Unfortunately, he only knew how to build it into the chemical structures of fabric, so unless I wanted to create an entirely new suit I would have to deal with it being not as fire proof as needed to deal with Human Torch." Wally answered while patting his shoulder a little bit where Ronnie's fight had scorched it. He brushed off the soot, revealing the actually scorched material below. He pressed on it, presumably to try to push the soot off harder, but then winced, his nose crinkling and the corner of his lips tightening. He didn't say anything though, opting to instead just push down again, all of the soot falling off the suit and almost putting it back to its former bright yellow glory.

Barry smiled and raced into the ring, "I guess it's our turn."

Wally wasn't far behind, "I guess so. Ready to go down?"

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." Barry grinned.

Before Cisco could call for a start, Caitlin's phone rang and she put a hand in the air, signaling for everyone to be quiet, before talking into the phone, "Hey Felicity! What's up? … Yes. He's here. What do you need him for? … What's the address? … He'll be right there. Don't worry."

Barry had sped into the Cortex, donning his suit and racing back down to the training room between two of her sentences. He asked quickly, "What's going on?"

Caitlin started running back up to the Cortex, the others following quickly. She said, "I'll tell you on the way."

Barry was about to fly out of STAR labs, but then he caught sight of Wally walking beside them, hands clenched at his sides and jaw tense. It was obvious that he needed to be fighting, needed to be out saving people the best he could. So Barry tossed him a comms device that he caught easily, gloves pushing up his goggles to look at what he held before glancing back up at Barry in confusion. When he saw the look in Barry's eyes, he gave him a grateful smile and pushed the device into his ear. For the benefit of the others who probably didn't even notice the incredibly fast exchange, Barry said, "Wally will come with me. I've got a pretty good idea of how he fights from the things he's told me and from watching that fight with Firestorm. Besides, two speedsters are better than one."

Joe asked worriedly, "Are you sure that's such a good idea? The Arrow doesn't really like new people much."

"It'll be fine." Barry said, waving his hand in front of his face as if swatting away the issue before accessing his super speed and racing away, Wally right beside him. The two tore through the countryside towards the recently renamed Star City.

Caitlin's voice sounded in his ear and he knew that Wally would be hearing the same thing, "Here's what we've got. Green Arrow was investigating claims of a contract on a guy named Will Payton. No one is quite sure why he was being targeted, but that didn't stop the fact that he was being targeted. Green Arrow followed it back to a guy called Deadline – real name unknown. This guy is a mercenary and an assassin. He's supposed to be really good at his job, but not as good as, say, Deadshot or Deathstroke."

"Then why are we being called in?" Barry questioned, glancing to the side to make sure that Wally – no, he had to think of him as Kid Flash – was keeping up with him. It was certainly weird having someone running alongside him like this.

Caitlin continued, "Team Arrow was fighting him when they realized that he could walk through walls. His skin is almost impenetrable and he's got golden armor, plasma guns, and flying discs that he apparently likes to fly around on. He can make all of those things intangible as well as himself."

"What's Team Arrow?" Wally's voice came into his ear and Barry realized that he could hear it over the roar of the wind as well.

Cisco said, "You'll see soon. You're almost at the destination!"

And they were. Seconds after Cisco spoke, they came across a warehouse with sounds of fighting emitting from it. Flash announced, "We're here." And then raced over the window, taking in the scene in an attosecond. Kid Flash was by his side, taking in the scene with his other senses as Flash took it in with his sight alone. There were probably about thirty people in the room. Spartan (aka John Diggle) and Speedy (aka Thea Queen) were fighting off a large number of the goons, Green Arrow (aka Oliver Queen) taking on Deadline and whoever else came close enough that he felt the need to dispatch of them immediately. They were all fighting in sync, moving in time and keeping out of each other's ways. Oliver shot off an arrow, but it went straight through the villain, lodging in the wall behind him. Deadline grinned and Oliver sent off several more arrows in quick succession, aiming towards different parts of Deadline's body to try to find a weak spot.

Before all of the arrows had even gone through him entirely, Deadline had raised his gun and fired a shot. Flash saw immediately that Oliver wasn't going to make it in time. He watched as the shot went through the air in slow motion, Green Arrow moving out of the way at an even slower speed. That was all he needed and less than a second later found him pushing Oliver out of the way, standing off to the side as the plasma beam hit the ground. By the time he'd helped Oliver to his feet, Thea and Diggle were walking towards them, all of the thugs unconscious at their feet. At first, he was impressed by whatever they had to have done to take them out so fast, but then he saw the shocked expressions on their faces and the lightning off to the side that told him that Kid Flash had been the one to take out the thugs. He let a smile fall into place on his face and grinned at Wally who came to a stop next to Barry.

Green Arrow glanced around the room in a cursory sweep before giving Barry a look that he knew to mean that they'd be talking about this later. Then Deadline started talking, "Couldn't deal with me yourself, Green Arrow?" Mockery dripped from his words as he floated above them condescendingly. Barry hadn't known someone could float condescendingly before then.

"He could deal with you just fine. But that would have been boring, so he decided to speed up the process a little bit." Wally replied with a grin, a set to his shoulders that told Barry that the kid lived for moments like this. He was just like Barry – making fun of the villains was the only fun way to fight them and when everything went so slow, they needed a little fun.

"And who are you?" Deadline sneered.

Flash stepped forward, slinging an arm around Wally's shoulders, "This is Kid Flash. We figured someone as easy to take down would be a good practice for him." He felt more than heard Wally laughing next to him and he marveled at how easy this was, how natural it felt to have this kid at his side. He figured that if it was anyone but Wally he wouldn't feel that way. Wally just had that kind of effect on people.

"How do you plan to defeat me if you can't even touch me? All of your little weapons go right through me. Your little fists do too. You can't defeat me." Deadline gestured to the cluster of arrow embedded in the wall behind him.

Wally's voice was low enough that only Barry and Oliver (who were standing the closest) could hear, "I think I know a way to defeat him. He can get intangible, right? I think he's doing something similar to us when we phase through things. He's just making it so something can go through his body, but his body is still there. We just have to do something to hit his body then."

Barry paused for a moment, waiting for Oliver to speak. He didn't, choosing instead to simply glare at Wally. Rolling his eyes, Barry replied, "Go for it." The glare was transferred onto him, but he didn't care. He wanted to see what Wally had in mind.

He watched as Wally ran across the room, circling under Deadline. The man in question just raised an eyebrow and laughed at the speedster's actions. Eventually, a circle of lightning was all that most people would be able to see. Barry could see every move Wally made, though, and he watched with mouth open as Kid Flash slowed a little bit and turned, reaching one arm behind him and grabbing a chunk of the electric trail that followed them when they ran. Hand full of lightning, Wally aimed and threw (something that was doubly impressive because the kid was running blind at the moment, opaque lenses covering any chance at seeing the battle), the lightning smacking into Deadline who convulsed before dropping towards the floor. Flash ran and cuffed him quickly, setting him down on the ground, unconscious. He finally understood what Wally was talking about when he was mentioning that Deadline's body was still there. Someone's body is made up of mainly water. If the physical body is still there but just moving at a different speed or spreading a little farther apart than usual or whatever was going on for Deadline, the lightning would still be attracted to the water and would still hit it, affecting the intangible body the same way it would a tangible body. Color Barry impressed.

Oliver, however, didn't seem nearly as impressed. John was standing there with his mouth open and Thea was looking between Green Arrow, Kid Flash, and Flash with shock written into her features. Green Arrow growled out, "What are you doing here?"

Flash saw Wally frown and went to stand next to him in a show of comfort. He answered, "We were called in. Metahumans are our cup of tea you know."

Green Arrow growled back, "Is this the other speedster you told me about?"

Barry felt a questioning look from Wally, but ignored it for the moment, "Yeah, he is. Could we maybe talk about this somewhere else? Preferably after the villain lying unconscious on the ground is taken care of."

It was a while later when they finally made it to the new Arrow Cave. Oliver was still grumbling to himself about Wally's existence in general, Thea was trying to act like she wasn't totally amazed by the fact that 'they know the Flash', and Diggle was trying not to show how freaked out he was by two speedsters. Felicity jumped up when they walked into the cave, but stepped back again when she realized that there was a stranger with them. She glanced to Oliver for cues on what to do, but he was staring resolutely ahead, trying to ignore all of them. Barry rolled his eyes and plopped into a rolly chair, pulling his cowl back from his head and mussing his hair a little bit so it didn't look like it had just been stuck in a cowl. Maybe Wally had the right idea with the open top. Then again, Barry didn't think it would look right. That and he knew that Cisco would not approve. Wally flumped into the chair next to him and grinned triumphantly to the room as a whole. Barry glanced at the still confused members of Team Arrow and said, "You can take your cowl and goggles off, Wally. At least some of them already know a little bit about you."

"Thanks for just throwing out my secrets, Barry." Wally mock scowled, obviously understanding the older speedster's reasoning.

Barry grinned, "What can I say? I'm a natural gossip."

Wally snorted, "True that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Barry turned on him.

"Oh nothing…" Wally glanced away innocently before continuing with a devious smirk, "I just happen to know a little bit about your fifth grade graduation."

Barry's cheeks heated up and he hissed, "Who told you about that?"

"Who do you think?" Wally laughed.

Barry sighed, "Iris."

"Yep!" Wally shot back, grinning gleefully.

Green Arrow's growl broke them out of their little conversation, "Care to explain what's going on?"

Barry motioned for Wally to explain it because he really didn't want to, so Wally launched into an explanation, "So, I'm from another universe. I was saving the world and ended up getting sucked into a different universe. I was on my way home to my universe when the whole black hole thing happened in this universe and I got sucked into this one. I helped close the black hole. Barry put me in the Pipeline. I convinced him to let me out. I'm currently trying to find a way back home, but in the mean time, Barry has agreed to let me help out protecting his city. Ta da."

A voice came from further in the cave, "I'm sorry, did you just say another dimension?" Barry jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion of Black Canary (aka Laurel Dinah Lance) into the conversation. Wally didn't seem surprised at all and Barry realized that he must have known she was there the entire time. Curse his super senses.

Wally nodded dutifully in response and she whistled in surprise. Barry couldn't really blame her. It was a better reaction than he'd had. Felicity had a very different concern however. She walked over and punched Barry on the shoulder, "How dare you put this little cutie in the pipeline?" She gestured over to said 'cutie' before seeming to have gotten a closer look. She gasped and said, "What happened to your eyes?"

Wally tilted his head to the side curiously before his bright green eyes widened in realization and he said, "Oh, that! I was blind before I came to this dimension. The scars from where I was stabbed stayed, but for some reason the damage to the actual eye was gone."

"Where you were stabbed?" Oliver questioned some of his grumpy mood fading as curiosity and anger (at the person who would stab another human – or metahuman – in the eye) started to rise.

Wally frowned again, glancing towards Oliver with his eyebrows drawn together and a calculating look in his eye, "Is this a post-fight conversation or an interrogation? Because I'm not mentally prepared for an interrogation right now."

"I don't care if you're 'mentally prepared' for it or not. You came into my city-," Oliver started.

Wally interrupted, "To save you!"

Oliver continued as if Wally hadn't spoken, "-and joined in a fight that we didn't need your help in." He studiously ignored Wally's bark of laughter, continuing, "You claim you're from another dimension, but don't give us any more information than that. We can't trust you."

"Good to know. Guess what? I don't trust you either! You're nothing like my dimension's Oliver Queen. You're a jerk who doesn't seem to care about others. You take things too seriously – seriously enough that everyone else around you feels the need to be serious as well. You're dragging down your team and your city by acting like this." Wally responded, eyes flashing (Barry saw literal bolts of lightning flash through his eyes; a sure sign that a speedster was about to get mad).

Team Arrow was gaping at the fiery red head who had no qualms about speaking up against their leader, but Green Arrow had only narrowed his eyes further. His voice was deadly calm when he said, "How do you know that I'm Oliver Queen?"

"Because my dimension's Green Arrow is also Oliver Queen." Wally replied irritably, crossing his arms.

"That doesn't mean that I'm for certain Oliver Queen." Oliver Queen stated, voice still that eerie calm.

Wally sighed, "I can tell when someone's fishing for info, you know. It's obvious that you've already figured a lot of it out and just want confirmation. I have enhanced senses. When I got my super speed, I was in a coma for four months. When I woke up, I got my eyes stabbed out. It's my theory that the Speed Force was still changing my body so when it realized that I couldn't see and therefore couldn't run, it changed my body to adapt. There wasn't any saving my eyes, so it decided to give me greatly enhanced senses. Again, that's just my theory. Who knows if that's true or not? During the fight just now I was wearing opaque goggles because I'm not used to fighting or doing much of anything with sight. Happy now?" Barry winced. Wally was biting off his words, getting as close to mad as Barry suspected he could be.

"No. I still don't trust you and I don't like that you're running around with my secret identity and the location of my base. I don't want you in my city anymore. Barry can come alone if he ever feels like visiting." Oliver growled out, finally pulling down his hood and taking off his mask.

Wally rolled his eyes, all rebellious youth, "You sound just like Batman: 'No metahumans in my city unless they're my partner or given direct permission to enter. No other heroes can enter unless they get permission. I can handle Gotham by myself.'" Wally imitated a deep, growling voice that was more terrifying that even Oliver's. Oliver raised an eyebrow at the action, but didn't say anything. Wally announced petulantly, "Uncle Ollie would have made some sort of joke about that. Or he would have laughed. Or he would have had a sense of humor in general."

Oliver's head whipped around to look back at Wally and Barry choked a little bit, eventually getting out, "Uncle Ollie? Are you saying I'm related to him in your dimension?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder where he was pretty sure Oliver standing.

"Wait, you're related to him?" Oliver asked, pointing to Wally and standing in a completely different spot than Barry had thought he'd been.

Wally answered for the both of them, "My biological father is Rudolph West, Iris's brother." Barry could see the disgust in Wally's face when he spoke of Rudolph. Wally continued, "Rudolph West emancipated himself from the family before I was even born. When my parents were… ruled unfit for parenthood, I was adopted by Batman who found out about my powers and contacted his friend the Flash, aka Barry Allen, aka Iris's husband. Batman figured out the connection and told Uncle B that we were related. I had met Roy because he was a friend of Robin – another of Batman's kids. And then when Robin and I had to go to some fancy gala thing for something Batman did, Roy introduced us to his adopted father, Oliver Queen and his girlfriend, Dinah Lance. Batman had already told us their secret IDs as Green Arrow and Black Canary. Through Roy I got to know Uncle Ollie better. I mean, the first time we met he insisted that I call him Uncle, but that's just the kind of person he was – er, is… I guess."

Barry couldn't help but laugh at the expressions of shock ranging throughout the room. It was obvious that none of them really knew how to react to these people who were so different from them and yet so much the same. Barry had a hard time wrapping his head around it too, but he tried to ignore that most of the time in favor of just focusing on sending Wally home. Then he glanced over at Wally and saw the expression on the kid's face. He looked heartbroken. It was obvious that he'd been hoping for something different when he'd found out they were going to meet the Green Arrow. Poor Wally was trapped in this dimension with only a small chance of getting home and he didn't even get the little parallels between his dimension and this one that he'd been hoping for. It was obvious that it was devastating the poor kid.

When Barry happened to catch Oliver's eye (Wally and Thea were getting into an in-depth discussion about alcohol that was mildly concerning), he gave him a look that he hoped conveyed how much Barry believed Wally. Barry still didn't trust him, but, like he'd said to Iris, he believed him and that was close enough. He wanted Oliver to believe Wally too so Wally could be just a little bit happier in this dimension. Oliver stared back at him emotionlessly for a few moments before finally sighing and nodding. Barry beamed and nodded back. They would both try to help this broken hero get home to where he belonged with the people who he knew and loved.

VVVVVV

"I am here." Ra's al Ghul announced, his face filling the final screen.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen." Lex Luthor announced silkily.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Queen Bee purred.

"I do not see how that is relevant. What is the purpose of this meeting?" The Brain questioned.

"Who cares? I'm bored!" Klarion whined, Teekl whining alongside him.

"I was busy and you pulled me away from my mission. At least have the decency to explain yourself." Black Manta growled.

"Astonishingly, I agree with Klarion. This seems to be a waste of my time." Sinestro sighed.

"Get on with the meeting already!" Black Adam boomed.

"I'm sure he will move this meeting along when he wishes, not when you pester him into doing so." General Zod snapped.

Vandal Savage took that as his cue and smirked into the camera broadcasting his face to each of those villains, "General Zod is correct. I will speak when I wish to and I can assure you that I have infinitely more patience than you do. Now, I would like to welcome you all to the first meeting of a new group – a much more powerful one. Welcome to the Dimensional Light!"


	6. Chapter 6

VVVVVV

Luthor snorted delicately (Vandal Savage wasn't entirely certain how he managed that) and rose a single eyebrow, "The Dimensional Light? Was there truly nothing better you could think of?"

Vandal was prevented from growling out an answer when Queen Bee interrupted, sitting forward in her chair, "The name kind of makes me feel like you wish to 'spread the light' to other dimensions. If we cannot even take Earth, how do you plan for us to take on entire dimensions?"

Klarion's bored voice piped up, "Don't we need a speedster for that anyways? We lost Zoom. Do you really think another speedster would be stupid enough to try it too?"

Luthor barged back into the conversation, "You lost Professor Zoom? How, pray tell, could you have lost him? He's eyesore yellow."

Sinestro's voice was tight with anger as he asked, "And what is wrong with the color yellow?"

"I'm personally still wondering what makes you believe we are strong enough now to take on other dimensions." Queen Bee reminded them.

"What does it matter if we cannot even get to other dimensions as Klarion says?" Black Manta said, his mask to the side and a frown decorating his face as it had ever since his son betrayed him.

Ra's al Ghul was shaking his head, "Is no one else concerned about that fact that Vandal Savage sent someone to another dimension without even consulting us first?"

That seemed to get everyone's attention, but it was not the way Vandal had wanted the meeting to go. Frowning, Vandal said, "If I had taken the time to contact you, I would have likely been captured and the plan would have gone to waste. It needed to be done quickly."

"Who was it who said that they had 'infinitely more patience' than we do? Because I'm pretty sure it was Savage." Black Adam quipped.

"Interesting that you believe that you do not believe the plan went to waste the way it was even though you failed and lost someone who could have been a valuable ally." Black Manta accused.

The Brain spoke up then, "I believe that it would be in our best interests if we were to let Vandal Savage tell us his plan."

Intrigued at this sudden ally in the argument that he followed his declaration, Vandal raised an eyebrow at the machine. Obviously gaining no reaction, Vandal began speaking, "As Klarion and I were waiting here in the War World, we discovered a dimensional breach and tested on it. Eventually we found that with the right kind of spells, we were able to communicate with people in the other dimension. I found a villain named Loki who suited my purposes. I used him to find Falcon, but was betrayed before I could get any information out of him. That was when I manipulated the Justice League into discovering a way to travel between dimensions and then I stole their data and sent Professor Zoom through. It was not long before I realized that he would not be coming back. I was able to discover that the Justice League had found a way to get Falcon back, but they were unsuccessful. Apparently Falcon was sent to yet another dimension." There were a lot more intrigued faces now, everyone paying attention to his every word. He continued, "They are currently working with the first dimension Falcon was sent to in order to get him back. I plan to use their distraction and their data against them. I plan to use that for the Dimensional Light. As to your question, Queen Bee, we don't need to be strong enough on our own. There are countless other villains in these other dimensions. And to answer your question, Black Manta, we do not need Zoom for this. As Klarion said, there are not a lot of speedsters who would be willing to do this, likely knowing what happened to the Reverse Flash. Speedsters from another dimension, however, wouldn't know about that, now would they?"

General Zod nodded his head, thinking aloud, "It would take some time to find the right locations, but then it would just be a matter of waiting for a speedster to go by and then ensnaring them – be it with words or with weapons – and then we would have a ticket to another dimension."

"Precisely." Vandal smirked at the group, taking careful note of their contemplative expressions. They knew that this would work. They knew that he was their superior and could continue to lead them even after that small… setback with the Young Justice League. He had a solution for that this time. He stood by his statement that Falcon was the glue that held the team together. If they took that glue away, the worlds – no, the dimensions – would all fall to the Dimensional Light. They would all fall to Vandal Savage.

WWWWWW

Wally's hand flickered to his pocket for a moment and he sighed deeply, leaning his head back onto the pole jutting out of the wall of the apartment building he was in. He and Barry were working on putting the city back together each night after a little bit of patrol. The pace was honestly pretty intense: wake up at the same time Barry did and work on getting home all day until Barry came back from work and then it was patrol until ten or twelve and then rebuilding the city until two, three in the morning, only to wake back up at seven again. Of course he and Barry took micronaps throughout the day that were so much more refreshing for a speedster, but still aren't quite enough. Pretty soon one or both of them were going to crash.

Barry plopped to the ground next to Wally, rolling his shoulders and his neck before handing Wally a handful of high protein bars. The redheaded speedster accepted them gratefully and smiled at the older speedster who smiled back obligingly. There was silence for a moment as the two caught their breaths, time flowing at the speed they willed it. Barry's voice broke Wally out of his silent reminiscence, "We will get you back home. You know that, right?"

Sensing that this was a serious moment, Wally responded back seriously, "I had two dimensions working together to get me home and they failed. What's to say that this dimension can do what the others couldn't?"

"We've got Cisco and Caitlin and Stein and Ronnie and me. I know what you're going to say – your dimension has them too, but it's not the same. This is a completely different dimension and we're completely different people from the people you're used to." Barry began.

Wally couldn't help the bitter tone that crept into his voice, "You don't have to remind me of that."

Barry's voice was tinged with sadness when he continued, "I know that. I'm sorry that we're not who you want us to be, but we will all do our best to still keep you safe and warm and happy. I can somehow tell that you deserve that."

"Even though you don't trust me?" Wally ventured, turning his head slightly to the side to see Barry's facial expressions. Barry's eyes turned sad and the corners of his lips turned down, a shadow falling over his expression. Although Wally was still beyond excited about being able to see again, there were downsides. First and foremost, he wished that it had been his family who he saw first. He wished that it would have been his Uncle Barry who showed him the wonders of running with sight. Secondly, it still gave him headaches. He still wore his opaque goggles when he went out as Kid Flash even though he'd been given a pair that he could see through. He didn't like being able to see all the time. It was still too overwhelming.

Barry dragged him out of his thoughts again by letting off a sad laugh, "I hadn't thought about the fact that you could hear us at the time. We sat there and talked about you like that when you could easily hear us. I'm not sorry for what we said because Iris and I meant it all, but I am sorry that we did that right there in front of you."

Wally's shoulders drooped and he closed his eyes again, "It's fine. It's not like you aren't justified in not trusting me. Cisco's told me a little bit about what you've been through. There's a lot of reason to not trust."

There was a pause where Wally thought that the conversation had ended, but then Barry spoke again, "Is the me from… your dimension… is he distrustful as well?"

Green eyes opened again and Wally tilted his head back to see the earnest expression on Barry's face. He was honestly curious. Wally sighed out, "Yeah, he is. He hides it under jokes and his overall friendliness, but he doesn't trust easily. We can't show it though. Speedsters have to be the goofy ones that are kind of lame and are just around to take out the goons in one fell swoop. We're just there to make sure that the others have someone to blame for mistakes so they don't blame each other and cause fighting amongst the group. A lot of people don't realize everything we can do. They don't understand the power we wield; the enemy we would be if we went evil. The Speed Force gives us so much power and no one else seems to realize it because we always have to hold back so much. If we didn't then… well… the world would fall beneath us. We have to pull our punches or we could punch right through someone with the speed we build up when we run. If someone's powers are based in water, we have to make sure that we don't run too close and fry them to death with our lightning trails. We always have to slow down and hold back and no one realizes that."

There was another pause before Barry added in, "They don't realize that speedsters are smart and that they can case a place faster than someone can blink. No one understands that we can process things faster than everyone else and come up with a plan and discard it and come up with another before someone can get a word out."

"But it works for us. It's not just other heroes that underestimate us. Villains do too and that ends up being their downfall. Uncle B always said to never show others – whether they be hero or villain – the full extent of your powers. He always said to keep something hidden. He called them speedster secrets, things that were kept between those of us who had this gift." Wally said with a soft smile.

"He sounds like a smart man." Barry grinned. Wally just reveled in the fact that he could see the grin.

But then their comms were buzzing to life in their ears, Cisco's voice sounding out clearly, "Captain Cold and Heatwave are robbing Central City Bank. They need you guys."

"Ready to make your official debut, Kid?" Barry smirked while settling his cowl in place.

Wally grinned back, "Definitely. I remember when I first fought against Uncle Len and Uncle Mick."

Ronnie's voice sounded over the comms, sounding choked, "Uncle Len and Uncle Mick? Is this like Oliver level Uncle or Barry level Uncle?"

"Oliver level Uncle. They're really nice once you get to know them. Well, the Rogues are nice once they accept you into their family. I mean, they still give it their all during fights, but it's fun." Wally responded.

Wally was inwardly laughing at the fact that Barry was obviously relieved that he wasn't related to Leonard Snart or Mick Rory when Caitlin gasped, "It's fun? Don't they try to kill you?"

"Well yeah," Wally started, "but they have this sort of rule that says that it's okay to try to kill us as long as they don't actually succeed."

"That's ridiculous man." Cisco stated, a small slurping sound indicating that he had yet another slushie with him. That man always had one on hand.

"I think it's sweet. Kind of." Iris announced. Wally could imagine her tilting her head to the side, one side of her face scrunching up a little bit like it did when she wasn't quite sure about something. It was amazing to see people's facial expressions. There was so much more to a conversation when you could see that.

But then his thoughts were put on the back burner as he and the Flash pulled to a stop right in front of Central City bank. Kid Flash could hear Captain Cold and Heatwave's heartbeats; could smell their distinctive scents. Captain Cold was already talking as Kid Flash was stopping his skidding, "Couldn't handle us yourself, Scarlet? You had to bring a little Flash with you?"

Barry answered back, a smirk evident in his voice, "I could handle it myself, but why should I when the two of us can do it two times faster." He ruffled Wally's hair for good measure and Wally felt his head stutter in his chest. This was… this was almost exactly like his first Rogue encounter. It was almost word for word what happened the first time. Kid Flash felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes and blinked them away quickly, trying to focus on the fight. This wasn't the time to get distracted. This wasn't his Uncle Barry or Uncle Mick or Uncle Len. These were strangers who were robbing a bank right now and Barry was just trying to help him get home. None of them knew him or trusted him. He wasn't back in his dimension. He wasn't with the people who loved him. But he would get back. He would. He wouldn't be stuck here for eight months or however long he was in that second dimension. Soon he'd be back home, but that wasn't relevant right now because these were strangers and he needed to take them down.

In line with that thinking, Kid Flash tuned back into the confrontation just in time to hear Cold shoot ice at him. Thinking fast (like always), Wally dived out of the way and rolled back into a standing position, moving straight towards where the shot had come from. He could smell and hear Heatwave and Flash's fight off to the side, so that meant that he was taking on Cold by himself. He could do that. He'd fought Cold a thousand times and the Captain Cold he'd fought had been a super villain longer than this one had from what he could tell. But this one had also been killing more recently than his Cold. Feeling a shiver race down his spine, Wally dove to the side again. He really needed to start paying more attention to this battle. He kept drifting off which was a serious problem. It also wasn't like him. Uncle Barry and Bruce had rather effectively trained that sort of behavior out of him.

Uncle Len's voice shattered his inner thoughts with cold efficiency, "Perhaps it would be better if you paid more attention to this little battle we're having. I don't particularly want to hurt a kid, but I will if I have to." It was said in a low, drawn-out drawl that seemed like it was designed to drive a speedster crazy. Seriously, how can people talk that slow and not get bored?

He quipped back, "Chill Captain Cold. Give me a minute to ground myself over here. I was thinking."

Wally could practically sense the eyeroll that came along with the next shot of the cold gun. He was ready for it this time. When he rolled this time, it was up into the air, jumping over the shot and flipping down in front of where his echolocation devices told him Captain Cold was. Rearing a fist back, Wally brought it down on Captain Cold, speed pulled back a little so he wouldn't seriously damage him. As he placed handcuffs on the villain, Wally smirked, "Hey Cold, the heat is on. Can you take it?"

"That was quite possibly one of the worst puns I've ever heard and I have to deal with Snart's all the time." Barry came up behind them, dragging an unconscious Heatwave behind him.

Wally raised an eyebrow before realizing that no one would be able to see it with the cowl and goggles on and said instead, "Three guesses as to who taught it to me." Personally, he was a little miffed. Uncle Barry had taught those puns to him and he thought they were pretty awesome.

"No." Flash said, shaking his head (Wally could hear the vibrations). Flash continued, "There is no way." He paused for a moment when the police came and took away the crooks, presumably giving Kid Flash odd looks as they passed. Flash continued the moment they were gone, "There is no way that I would ever be that lame. Even in another dimension."

Wally didn't get a chance to respond because then there were reporters surrounding them, shouting out questions all at the same time, the sounds of bodies jostling each other almost as deafening. Wally was used to this, however. Central City from his dimension had some pretty persistent reporters (Aunt Iris came to mind) and he'd gotten used to handling them over the years. One particularly loud reporter's question soared over the crowd, "Who are you? Why does Central City need another speedster to protect it?"

Pressing a button on his goggles, Wally was finally able to see again. It was a function Wally and Cisco had put in there while they were waiting for Caitlin to run some tests. All he had to do was push the button and it would un-shade his goggles and they wouldn't be opaque, but they'd still be shaded so no one could see his eyes. Kid Flash looked for the reporter who had asked the question and saw a pretty woman with what looked to be silky black hair. She was wearing a cute blouse and bright colored pants that Wally knew Artemis wouldn't be caught dead in. Looking closer, he saw a name tag that read: 'Linda Park – CCPN'. That was the place Iris worked at; Central City Picture News. Wally glanced back up at her face and let time resume its normal speed, smiling charmingly at the woman and saying, "I'm Kid Flash. And who says Central City needs another speedster? Flash can take care of this city by himself, but why should he have to? This way more people are saved and they're saved faster. Besides, Central City is totally my speed, so I'm going to want to stay and hang out with my friend and mentor over here."

The look Linda Park gave him said that she was not amused. She continued grilling him, "How was it that the two of you met? Are there more speedsters out there?"

"I think our meeting is a story that could be told another time. As for wondering if there are other speedsters out there – there aren't any others that we know about. It's just us two." Barry announced jovially.

But then another voice came from the crowd, sending ice picks slamming down Wally's spine, "And me." Wally stared, eyes wide, at the figure before them. Dressed in a gray mockery of the Flash suit and shooting off blue lightning, Zoom didn't move for an entire second, gaze locked on Wally. But then he ran. Wally didn't have a chance to start moving. Zoom grabbed him around the waist and was gone.

MMMMMM

Matt growled low in his throat as he paced around the helicarrier. He still wasn't comfortable being here so often, constantly concerned that they were going to find out who he was (if they didn't know already). Hawkeye already knew, but after a thorough talking to he wouldn't be sharing Matt's secret identity with anyone. Tony's voice broke him out of his dark musings, "Stop pacing. You're driving me crazy and I can't focus."

Natasha's voice snapped from where she was typing on a computer, "And that's different from every other day, how?"

Steve tried to placate them both, "Why don't we just go back to what we were working on and try to not let the others bother you, alright?"

"Oh yeah, let's go back to what we were working on. What was it you were working on again, Rodger? Hm… oh! I remember! You weren't working. You were just nagging at us." Tony grumbled.

Bruce quietly interjected, "Either way, why don't we just take Steve's advice to heart?"

"Because they're too full of themselves to stop arguing." Clint announced from his spot perched in the rafters doing… something.

Matt growled at them all, "Why aren't you done yet? Don't you know where Wally is by now?"

"Would you like to try?" Tony asked, sounding affronted.

Bruce cut in before another argument began, "With the help of DC, we've been able to find a way to sift through the other dimensions, but there are way too many of them. There are significantly more than we were prepared for."

"Why can't you just see which ones had something huge happen to them like the portal here?" Matt sighed.

There was a long pause that made Matt wish he could see what expressions the people in the room were wearing because he wasn't sure why they'd paused. But then it became obvious when Stark started babbling, "Why is it that all the stupid ones come up with the good ideas? First it was Rodgers with the speedsters only thing and now it's Daredevil with his whole find a significant energy source that has the necessary output to pull a dimensionally traveling speedster into that dimension idea. They don't even know what they're talking about and they still come up with all the good things. It's not fair." By that point he was just whining to Bruce while simultaneously vigorously typing things into his computer. Matt was fairly certain that that wasn't what he'd just said, but he was willing to go with it if it meant that they found Wally sooner. He wasn't entirely certain how he was going to eventually react to being called stupid thought. That was kind of annoying. He might have to kill Tony for that later.

All thoughts of revenge were thrown out the window when Iron Man spoke moments later. There was an undeniable excitement in his voice when he shouted, "We've narrowed it down to three different dimensions!" Captain America ran to go inform the DC dimension people, but Matt just stood there, mind racing. They were one step closer to finding Wally. Hang in there Wally, Matt silently pleaded, just hang in there and wait for us.


	7. Chapter 7

BBBBBB

Within the next nanosecond, Barry was off, racing after this strange new speedster who had just taken Wally. Call him cynical, but he couldn't think of a good reason someone would just kidnap another person in the middle of a crowd unless they were planning on doing something bad. And the last thing Wally needed was something bad happening to him.

Speeding up, Barry caught sight of the duo in front of him. It was kind of amazing to watch. Wally bent in the other speedster's grip, pulling his legs behind him in an almost impossible gymnastics move and kicking off of the stranger. As the stranger skidded and pivoted, Wally flipped in the air and landed on his feet, already racing towards the stranger with a fist reared back. The stranger moved faster, though and dodged to the side, swinging an arm at Wally's unprotected side. Wally was ready, though, and already had an arm blocking the fist. His other arm pulled something out of a compartment on his leg and Barry got a glimpse of what looked like a cane before it came swinging down at the stranger's head. The stranger moved faster again and twirled out of the way, immediately moving back in for another blow. Throughout the entire confrontation, they were running further through the city, blowing air through the trees and whipping women's hair around as they ran.

Barry tried to go faster, but was always just two steps behind. His nanosecond late start was really costing him apparently. As he ran, he kept track of the fight. Wally ducked under a fist and rolled between the stranger's legs, doing something that caused the stranger's knee to buckle, but then the stranger was gripping Wally's hair and bodily throwing him across the road. Wally smashed into the building, but was up and running again in moments, body slamming into the stranger and knocking both of them to the ground. Barry caught up to them as they scuffled on the ground, rolling around and throwing punches here and there. He gripped the stranger's suit and tossed him away, giving Wally a hand up, acknowledging the grateful nod.

The stranger just stared at them with a face like a monster and blue lightning sparking off of him in contrast to the red lightning that Barry and Wally emitted. For a moment, all three of them stood there, locked in a moment that felt powerful to Barry. He wasn't quite sure why, but there was something that seemed as if time itself had changed (and he knew how that felt) and molded around this very moment. But then the moment was broken and Wally was racing circles between the stranger and Barry, running faster and faster. Kid Flash pulled to a stop and reached behind him, grabbing a handful of electricity and throwing it. Then the impossible happened. The stranger reached out and caught the streak of electricity. Barry couldn't help the way his mouth fell open, shock rendering him mute. That was… that was terrifying. Wally apparently thought the same thing because he stumbled back a few steps and paused. It was obvious he didn't know what to do.

Then Wally threw himself forwards again, back into the fight. Barry followed after him and the two worked in tandem. Wally was the distraction, flipping, stinging, mocking, pushing and Barry was the attack, throwing punches when the stranger was distracted and tripping him up when he got too fast. To be honest, Wally and Barry worked perfectly together, movements already in sync. But the stranger was faster than them. He managed to catch Barry across the jaw and send him flying. Barry regained his bearings and stood up just in time to see something horrible happen.

The stranger had grabbed Wally again and even though the younger speedster was twisting in his grip, he didn't have enough time to escape before the stranger bent. The thing was, he bent Wally. Even from the ten feet away where Barry was standing, he could hear the audible snap of something in Wally's back. The scream that came after it was just adding to the misery. The stranger took off again, a limp Kid Flash held in his hands. Barry tore after him, tears pricking at his eyes. He had never wanted to see Kid Flash hurt and now he was unconscious in some stranger's hands because Barry wasn't fast enough.

When the trio stopped, it was at the outskirts of the city. The stranger dumped an unconscious and badly beaten Wally on the ground in front of a building, practically vibrating with that strange blue electricity coming off of him. He turned to Barry, voice low and vibrating, "I am Zoom. I will destroy this city that you seem to love so very much and I will kill everyone you love. Unless you can stop me. Before you think of coming after me right away, I'd like you to keep in mind that your young friend is probably dying. I'm pretty sure I punctured a lung on him at some point. Until we meet again, Flash." He left as abruptly as he came, shooting off across the city to go… somewhere. Barry couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. Wally was potentially dying and he couldn't just abandon him.

So he grabbed Wally as gently as he could, studiously ignoring the pained moans, and swept him away to STAR labs. Hopefully Caitlin would be able to help him. She had to be able to help him. She had to.

CCCCCC

Cisco was pacing. Wally should have been awake by now! He was a speedster. Speedsters healed fast! It was a thing! And, okay, he was healing fast, but still. It wasn't fast enough and it was stressing Cisco out! Biting his lip, he peaked back into the room where Wally was laid out on a bed, pale with a few flecks of dried blood left at the corner of his mouth. Sighing when he realized that there wasn't any change, Cisco went back to pacing the length of the Cortex, racking his brain to figure out who this Zoom person was. Seriously, how was he supposed to help when he didn't know what was going on? They couldn't do voice recognition because the vibrating thing masked his voice. They couldn't do facial recognition because he had a mask on. They couldn't look for matching finger prints because there weren't any finger prints because he had gloves on too. Caitlin was running some tests on a piece of fiber from Zoom's suit that Barry had accidentally gotten a hold of when he'd punched Zoom at some point. They weren't sure what that would give them, but it was a starting point at least. It didn't help Wally who was still unconscious in the med bay and it didn't help Cisco who still had nothing to do, but at least it was something.

He was broken out of his inner stressing by the sounds of one of his alarms going off. He had just finished the two step dash to the computer when Barry (who'd been fast asleep in the chair next to Wally's bed the last time Cisco had seen him) rushed up behind him. The two watched as Cisco pulled open the program that was currently letting off the alarm, effectively stopping the alarm and allowing them to see who it was at the same time. Squinting at the picture, Cisco felt like he recognized the figure, but he wasn't certain. Then he felt Barry relax next to him and realized that he could relax too. If Barry – the guy who currently didn't trust anyone and tried to stay away from everyone he didn't trust – relaxed, then there probably wasn't a problem. That's when it clicked and Cisco recognized the person who was currently riding the elevator to their floor. It was Roy Harper. It certainly had been a while since they'd seen him what with all that had been going on in Star City recently. Cisco wondered why the formerly known Red Arrow was coming to visit them.

Roy slouched into the room not long after, grudgingly accepting a hug from Barry and Cisco. The first thing he said was, "You two look awful."

"Thanks Roy. That's just what everyone wants to hear first thing when they meet up with a friend they haven't seen in a while. It just makes them so happy." Cisco deadpanned before glaring at Roy and taking a sip of his drink. He personally thought he looked pretty awesome right there. He was probably the only one who could pull off a dangerous stare and drinking a slushie at the same time. Roy just gave him a confused glance before shaking his head fondly. Cisco wasn't sure how to take that.

Barry just smiled at Roy and said, "There's just a lot of stuff going on right now. Anyways, what's up? How've you been? We haven't really seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I've been trying to lay low for a bit. Things are going fine. I was in Central anyways for a trip for work and I figured that I'd come visit you guys." Roy shrugged.

It was, of course, at that moment that Wally woke up. They all heard the strangled cry and the cough that came with not realizing that there was a nasal drip down your nose until it was too late. Caitlin and Ronnie came tearing around the corner, Ronnie standing back as Caitlin calmed Wally down, assuring him that he was safe and that he was okay. Cisco watched with wide eyes as Wally quieted and threw his head back on the pillow, eyes closed, before his eyes flew open again and he jerked upright a little bit, wincing as he did so. His bright green eyes immediately locked onto Roy, looking him up and down with that same startling intensity that he did everything with. Roy, for his part, looked a bit shocked and actually stumbled back a few steps, obviously unsure as to what was going on. Caitlin broke the awkward silence that fell over them by announcing, "You should be fine now. You had a punctured lung, but we were able to remove the bone and reset it outside of the lung so it would heal correctly. All of your other scratches and bruises are gone as well. You aren't experiencing any type of headache, are you?"

Wally shook his head and made to move before his eyes widened in panic. It was almost comical the way everyone else froze with him. Barry was the one who asked, "What's wrong, Wally?" Heh that was an alliteration. And that was also irrelevant.

Wally spoke slowly (for a speedster), which was Cisco's first indication that something was wrong. It was confirmed when the red head said, "I can't feel my legs."

It wasn't long before the Cortex was stuck in another moment of silence, Caitlin having whisked Wally away for an MRI, Ronnie helping her with whatever she needed. Roy's voice shattered the silence, "So… this is obviously a bad time. I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I can leave."

"No," Barry sighed, "You don't have to leave. It's just like I said: there's just a lot of stuff going on right now."

"Tell me about it." Roy said. His face was set in a very Oliver Queen like fashion which concerned Cisco, but he and Barry told the story of Wally coming into their world (literally) anyways, each of them skipping over little things that were just between themselves and Wally. By the end, Roy's eyes were wide open and he just remarked, "Wow."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Cisco laugh. If it sounded a little hysterical, the other two had the decency to not point it out.

They had apparently been talking long enough for Caitlin, Ronnie, and Wally to finish whatever tests they'd been doing because Wally rolled into the room on a new wheelchair. Cisco thought that it looked like one of Wells's old back-up ones. The thought of Wally sitting in that made him a little sick. Barry sped over to the kid, kneeling next to him, "Are you alright?"

Wally sighed deeply and closed his eyes like he always did when he was feeling stressed or upset, "We just found out that Zoom broke my back. It didn't set quite right and now I'm paralyzed from the waist down. It's not permanent!" He rushed to assure them when he saw the expressions they were wearing. Wally continued, "Caitlin says that it'll go away in a couple weeks or so as my spine realigns and fixes itself, but I'm stuck like this until then." Just then his eyes alighted on Roy again and he looked the former hero up and down, head tilted kind of to the side.

Roy glanced around to the others for help before turning back to Wally and saying, "Hey. I'm Roy Harper."

"Hi." Wally responded, wheeling his chair over and giving Roy a handshake. It was obvious he wanted to pull the older hero into a hug, but he refrained. Cisco wondered just how close Wally and his Roy were that he looked so heartbroken at this different Roy. It was the same way he'd look at Barry sometimes.

"Anyways," Roy coughed, "I'm going to head out. I'll be around the city for a little bit, so I'll drop in when I can." They all said their goodbyes and Roy left one last time. Wally mumbled that he was going to head out. Cisco wasn't sure where he thought he was going to go in that wheelchair, but he didn't want to say anything.

That left Cisco and Barry in the Cortex. The only thing Cisco could really say was, "That poor kid." He was even more determined than before to help him. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long until they could send him home.


	8. Chapter 8

VVVVVV

Vandal watched on, eyes calculating and curious, as the other members of the Dimensional Light bickered over which of the speedsters from various dimensions they wished to use. There was Black Racer – she was ruthless and used various fighting skills which made her an attractive candidate, but she was from the same dimension Kid Flash had most recently been in. Then Baroness Blitzkrieg, a savage killer who enjoyed destroying her victims by running straight through them. She was a possibility with her willingness to destroy and soldier-like mindset, but her blood thirst could potentially cause problems. Speed Demon was another speedster from the dimension Loki resides in, but he was too willing to betray to be of any real use. Then there was Cobalt Blue whose powers came from a strange gem and who was willing to do anything to destroy any and all Flashes. He was even related to Eobard Thawne which could work nicely, but the gem that powered him was quite fragile, which was a downside. Vandal wasn't certain why any of them were considering the Black Flash who was Death to all speedsters, but seeing as he could easily bring any of them into the Speed Force, killing them instantly, Vandal was certain that they would not end up using him. Savitar was too obsessed with his speed and taking the speeds of others. In short, he was unreliable. Quicksilver wasn't evil enough yet and came from the Avenger's dimension, so he wasn't worth being considered a candidate. Godspeed had too much of a need to prove the Flash wrong, so he was out.

Then there was the final candidate, presented by Luthor. The man had patiently waited his turn, ruthlessly and effectively toppling any argument the others had posed to defend their choice. It was a silent room that greeted him when he finally decided to stand and present. Luthor smirked coldly and began, "I have found the perfect speedster for this operation. He goes by the name of Zoom." He waited for that to sink in before continuing confidently, "Through intense research, I've discovered that his real name is Hunter Zolomon. He was given his powers through an accident where he was undergoing shock therapy and got hit with a particle accelerator explosion at the same time. On his world, he reigns supreme, leaving the city in fear of the monster of blue lightning that terrorizes Central City. What makes him an even more attractive candidate, however, is that he has already traveled between worlds." Even Savage sat straighter in his seat at that, fingers steepled and eyes focused on Luthor. Lex continued, "A Flash from another world opened a singularity in his world and then closed it – with the help of one Kid Flash whom we knew better as Falcon. The opening and closing of the singularity punched a hole through worlds, however, and now Zoom moves freely between the worlds. From my research, I've gathered that Zoom has injured Kid Flash in some way already."

Black Manta stroked his chin and spoke confidently, "We'll need to talk this over-,"

He was cut off by Luthor's silky smooth business voice, "What is there to talk about? He is the best option. He may be a little unstable, but if we offer him the correct incentive, that won't matter. He will stick with a plan if he believes it has merit."

Black Manta frowned, but didn't push further. Vandal figured that this was the time to speak up, "I agree with Luthor's choice in a partner for the Dimensional Light. All others who agree raise your right hand now."

One by one each member of the Dimensional Light raised their hands, some eagerly and others with expressions of misgivings. It was a solemn moment that seemed to hold power – even Klarion stayed silent. There was a long pause until, finally, Black Manta raised his arm and they were in total agreement. They would use Zoom.

MMMMMM

Matt collapsed onto his sofa, exhausted. They'd finally found the dimension that Wally was in, but it hadn't helped much. They didn't know how to get in contact with him. The dimensional hole that he'd gone through wasn't reacting the same way the others did. Captain Atom or whatever his name was theorized that the messed up hole had something to do with the anomaly that pulled Wally into that dimension in the first place. Stark and Banner had figured out that the anomaly was a black hole that had opened over the city. The Marvel universe was currently in charge of finding a way to contact Wally or get someone to that dimension to contact Wally because the DC universe was halting their research due to suspicions of Light activity. It had (apparently) been thought that the Light had dispersed after Wally had been sent to the Marvel universe, but the actions that led to the DC universe finding out Wally was alive proved otherwise. The Justice League had not been willing to let the Light grow while they searched for Wally, so the task was put upon the Avengers instead.

Matt couldn't help the way his lip curled as he thought of Batman telling them that they would be in charge of the search because they had villains to deal with. It wasn't like Matt or Spiderman or the Fantastic Four or the Avengers didn't constantly have villains to deal with either. They were the smaller group, honestly. So maybe the Light is a more awful, bigger, more horrible group of villains than the Marvel universe currently had to deal with and maybe their interest in destroying the DC earth was a little concerning, but weren't they at all worried about Wally? How was it that the people who'd known him for eight months were more willing to put everything aside to find him than the people who'd know him for years? It wasn't right. Wally didn't deserve them. He deserved people who cared about him like the Marvel universe did.

Shaking his head, Matt tried to banish the thoughts. He knew they were just borne of jealousy and lack of sleep and stress over Wally's disappearance. He'd heard the raw pain in the Flash's voice when he'd said that they needed to focus on the Dimensional Light instead of Wally. He'd heard the heartbreak in their voices as the heroes of DC stated that the civilians came first. They loved each other and would do anything for each other – other than abandoning the people they swore to protect the moment they put on their capes and cowls. And maybe Matt wasn't just jealous of the fact that Wally wanted so desperately to go to DC as opposed to staying at Marvel. Maybe he was also jealous of the fact that those heroes were strong enough for that. They were strong enough to put themselves and the things that they loved aside to save people. Matt didn't know what decision he'd make in that situation. Or maybe he knew, but he just didn't want to admit it to himself.

A noise at his window startled him into awareness. He crept into a more defensible position, silently cursing himself for getting so distracted. He wasn't normally like this. Shaking his head again to silent his rattling thoughts, he focused in on the situation at hand. Only to start cursing aloud once he realized who it was crawling down the side of his apartment building. He wrenched open his window and sniffed delicately, noting the lack of spandex. That meant that it was Peter Parker at his window, not Spiderman. Fantastic. He grabbed a fistful of Peter's coat and dragged him into the room, ignoring his indignant squawk as he tried to right himself. For all that he had the grace and deadliness of a spider, he was still a gangly teenager trying to impress all the older heroes. It wasn't working too well at the moment. Matt growled in his Daredevil voice as Wally had dubbed it, "What are you doing here Parker?"

"You seemed upset when you left the helicarrier earlier today. I wanted to make sure that you were okay." Peter responded. Matt could almost feel the pout. He was also not amused by it.

"Get out." Matt growled.

"No. You need some company. You've been extra grouchy since Wally disappeared and it's obvious that you're hurting and now you don't have a mini speedster to help you work through it. It's also obvious that you never really worked through your problems with him after the whole discovering-he's-actually-from-a-different-dimension thing. So Johnny and I are here to help you through it." Peter announced, apparently completely lacking that level of self-preservation that's necessary for basic human survival. Not that he's all that human. Not that Matt is either.

Disregarding that thought until later, Matt pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Johnny?"

"Yeah. He got waylaid by some F4 stuff, but he'll be here soon. We're just here to help!" Peter announced entirely too cheerfully for someone who was about to be killed by a billy club if he didn't leave Matt's apartment immediately.

Before Matt could act on that murderous feeling, he heard the whooshing burning sound that accompanied a certain teenaged member of the Fantastic Four and he opened his window again before the idiot burned through it or something 'well-meaning' like that. This was ridiculous. He could hear the pout in Johnny's voice as he said, "You totally left me to deal with those Doom bots, Spidey. Not fair."

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose and growled, low in his throat, "Get. Out."

"Nope." Peter remarked cheerfully. Pretty soon Matt was going to have to scare that cheerfulness out of him. He should learn to be afraid of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Then again, he spent too much time with Wally who didn't seem to be afraid of anything but his own power. And there he was thinking about Wally again. Maybe he really did need to talk. But if he did, it would be to Foggy and not two-thirds of the Terrible Trio as most people who met them had fondly taken to calling them. Or maybe not so fondly. Matt wasn't entirely certain.

"Na-uh, Mr. Murdock sir. We're going to sit down and have some nice conversation and you'll feel better by the end of it. Promise." The creaking of muscles indicated that Johnny had coupled that statement with one of his apparently award winning smiles. Evidently he was too dense to realize that Matt couldn't see it.

Speaking of, "Who told you my secret identity?" Matt growled. He really needed to stop doing that while he was in his civvies as Wally always called it. Next thing he knew he was going to be growling at some jury or another and out himself in court. That would certainly make the cops' jobs easier.

This time when Johnny spoke, it was a lot less joyful and easy going. He actually sounded scared when he said, "Um, well, you see, it was actually, well… Wally told me!"

If Matt's eyes worked, he'd have narrowed them at the Human Torch. Not only did he know that Wally would never betray him like that, he could also hear his heart rate increase. He was lying. Matt stalked ever closer, "Let's try this again. Who. Told. You. My. Secret. Identity?" He heard a gulp of air and realized that he wasn't going to get anything from him like that. Matt sighed again (already coming to realize that he'd be doing a lot of that in the near future) and asked quieter, "Hawkeye told you, didn't he?"

Johnny squeaked out, "Don't blame him! We were playing Truth or Dare and you can't go back on something like that. It's the law. I was the one who asked him to tell me your secret ID and he'd said truth so he had to give me your name." Matt sighed more deeply this time. Of course. This only happened because he worked with a bunch of people who called themselves heroes but who were actually three year olds running around in spandex with either pointy weapons or superpowers. Why was this his life? Honestly.

Matt moved reluctantly to the kitchen, grabbing out sodas for his two guests and a water for himself. He'd have gotten a beer, but he knew that it made Wally anxious when people he looked up to as a parental figure drank beer and so he'd stopped. Something to do with his biological father, he'd gathered. That was the only thing that had stood between a truly amazing relationship between Stark and Wally. The man just drank too much for Wally to ever feel even the slightest bit safe around him. He plopped the two sodas onto the table, not really feeling up to the effort that came with trying to hand someone something when you're blind. He then moved to plop himself onto his favorite chair – a recliner, resigned to the conversation as a whole.

"So…" Peter dragged out, that cheerful tone only serving to elevate Matt's blood lust, "What's bothering you the most and what can we do to help?"

Matt tipped his head back and covered his face with a hand, quite literally regretting his life choices. He ground out, "Wally's missing. What else would I be so upset about? And you can go home and get a good night's sleep if you really want to help."

"Is that really what's upsetting you the most? How about the fact that Wally lied to you about basically everything and practically used you as a place to set up shop?" Johnny asked quietly, a seriousness in his tone that Matt had never heard before.

And that hit a little too close to home, so Matt snapped, "Why do you even care? None of you ever cared about me before Wally came! You were all content to just leave me to my own devices and everything was fine. Now you're coming and breaking down my door and bothering me when I'm resting. Why does it matter so much to you?"

Peter was the one who responded, his voice also deepened by the weight of seriousness his words held, "It matters to us because it matters to Wally and Wally matters to us. And yeah, maybe we all just left you here to rot alone in Hell's Kitchen, but we sure weren't content with it. We all wanted to help you, but you made it explicitly clear that you did not want us to come anywhere near you or your city. You were the one who pushed us out when we tried to care. So don't blame that on us. Did it ever occur to you that this is hitting everyone else as hard as it's hitting you? The Avengers have each other to pick up the pieces. The Fantastic Four have their little family and I'm a part of that family, so that's all of us covered, but you don't have that. So we won't leave because we do care and you deserve someone to talk to. Alright?"

Matt laughed bitterly, "I hardly think it's hitting the rest of you as hard as it's hitting me. I was the one who lived with him, who let him into my home the first day I met him, fighting crime with him the next. I trusted him and I thought he trusted me because he told me that he trusted me, but apparently he didn't. I mean, I registered him for school. He went by the name of Wally Murdock. He was halfway to being my son and then he tells me that his story about his parents dying and being on the run from Child Services was a lie? His parents probably aren't even dead!"

Matt could hear the muscles creak into what sounded like a frown as Peter said, "No, his parents aren't dead. He was removed from their custody after his father tried to kill him and his mother just watched. They were put in jail. His mother got out on parole at the same time his father escaped. His father underwent experimentation to get powers so he could try to kill Wally again and actually succeed that time and he certainly tried his best and did a number on Wally, but Wally won in the end. His father was on his way back to prison when the effects of the experimentation killed him. His mother was sent back to prison for consorting with a terrorist organization. I think it's a little understandable that he wasn't entirely trusting of parental figures because his weren't the best."

"I'm sure Batman would disagree." Matt ground out, not quite sure why he was even still talking.

Johnny's voice held a raised eyebrow in it as he said, "Batman isn't all that either. Sure, Wally loves him, but the man has a ton of other kids, not a lot of free time, and a growling personality just as full of sunshine as yours. He taught all of his kids to not trust anyone ever and basically ingrained the need for paranoia and secrets into them. It was what he was taught to do."

"That didn't stop him from telling Spiderman." Matt retorted rather petulantly if he was being honest.

"He told me because he felt like he was going to break down. He felt like if he didn't tell anyone else, he was just going to fall apart. Remember when you, Foggy, and Wally were in that cabin and he had that panic attack? Where he got stuck in the flashback? That was when he realized that he couldn't do this alone anymore. But he was so used to rejection, so used to being told that he wasn't good enough, wasn't fast enough, wasn't smart enough, just wasn't enough in general by his parents, his bullies, his villains, and sometimes even his friends if they were in a bad enough mood. And that made him terrified to tell you. Don't you understand that he told me instead of you because he loved you more? I'll admit it. He cared more about you than me. I don't care. He's still one of my best friends and I know that we'd do anything for each other. But he told me and not you because if I walked away and never talked to him again and hated him for it, then it would have just been really sad and life would have sucked for him for a little bit, but he'd have at least gotten the truth out there. But if he told you and you walked away, that'd be a different story. He'd be devastated then. What would he have done? You were his rock, his parental figure, the first person in this entire dimension who ever cared about him. If you walked away, he wouldn't have been able to go on. I mean, you should have seen him when he told me. He had this sad little kicked puppy look and he basically said that he'd understand if I hated him and never wanted to talk to him again. He was terrified that I was just going to kick him out of my home and send him on his way. Because even after all these years, it's been ingrained in him that he's not good enough." Peter finished his rant slightly out of breath, taking a sip of his soda as he tried to catch his breath.

Matt sat back, dumbfounded. Was that really what it was like? Is that really why he didn't tell Matt? But that just brought him back to the argument they'd had on the helicarrier. He had to have known that Matt wouldn't react that way. But what if he didn't. Peter said that bullies and parents and friends and villains all still made Wally feel that way. And it can't have been that easy to get over that many years of abuse. Johnny spoke quietly, his voice calm after Peter's anger, "You're not the only one who was left out of the loop even though they thought they knew him pretty well. I obviously didn't know him as well as you, but I found out the whole truth only hours before you did. He really loves you and thinks of you like another father. He's not the kind of person to only have one best friend or one favorite aunt or one father. He's the kind of person who can just keep opening their heart for more and more people to fit in. You don't have to feel jealous of others because he loves everyone in a completely different way."

And finally, finally, Matt felt that traitorous anger in the back of his mind start to dissipate. It would still be slightly awkward the next time he and Wally interacted, but it would hopefully be better now that he truly understood the situation and now that everything was finally starting to slot into place. Surprisingly, these two teens had managed to put wisdom far beyond their age into the conversation and change even a stubborn old fool like himself. Matt smiled a little to himself as he thought that maybe having young new faces in the crime fighting business wasn't so bad after all. Before he could say anything to thank them, though, there was a beeping coming from Spiderman and Human Torch's comms and they both pressed a button. Matt was able to hear the conversation from both ear pieces. It was Captain America, "We need you two to report in at the helicarrier. If you can get in contact with Daredevil too, that would be great."

"Yeah, no problem, but what's going on Cap?" Spiderman asked, worry creeping into his voice. Matt was already in his room, quickly completing the change into Daredevil, listening to Peter and Johnny take off their normal clothes, presumably to reveal the hero suits hidden beneath.

He heard Rodgers respond, "Don't worry – it's nothing bad. The DC dimension just thinks that they have a solution, but they want everyone to be there so no one has to repeat themselves. We've been keeping them updating on what we've found out and apparently they've been doing some research on their own during what little free time they had and they've found something. Just come in as soon as you can." With that the buzzing cut out and Daredevil realized that that was the end of the conversation.

He stepped out of his room and over to his window, unlatching it and throwing over his shoulder, "Coming kids?" And then they were off, racing, swinging, flying towards the helicarrier that would hopefully reunite them with a friend lost in the dimensions.


	9. Chapter 9

RRRRRR

Roy was not amused. He'd come to Central City to visit with the Flash crew and get a break from all the news coming in from the Arrow Cave and they'd stuck him with this. Barry had a spree killer on the loose and was hard at work trying to catch him as a CSI, Joe right there with him. Iris was off in Coast City doing some sort of report on Ferris Air. Caitlin, Ronnie, and Stein were visiting a friend somewhere because they wanted to try something out with their powers and needed someone who had knowledge of their abilities to test it. Cisco had been reluctantly dragged away to spend some time with his family who insisted that he come visit them. That left Roy alone to watch after Wally. As if he was some sort of babysitter! This was ridiculous! Wally didn't even want a babysitter. He just sat there and worked through calculations on this huge board, occasionally talking to himself out loud. Roy didn't even know what was going on. He was just grateful that Cisco had shown him the video games before he'd left.

Just then Wally let out a particularly frustrated groan and there was the sound of someone smacking their head against the wall. Roy swiveled his chair around and watched with raised eyebrows as Wally threw his dry erase marker at the board and ran his hands through his bright red hair. The speedster took a calming breath and ran his fingers through his hair in a gentler manner, soothing instead of tearing. His fingers curled into fists on his currently useless legs and he punched them in anger. Roy bit his lip, not sure how to help. Was he supposed to approach him or just let him keep at it? Felicity normally got angry when Roy tried to comfort her when she was frustrated, but then Oliver would just go over and comfort her. Maybe he knew how to deal with frustrated smart people better than Roy did. Maybe Roy was just bad at comforting people. Either way, it didn't really help him in this situation. When he saw Wally's fingers curl nails first into his legs, though, he decided that he should probably do something. He cleared his throat a little and said, "Hey man, you okay?"

Wally closed his eyes before responding, eyes still firmly shut, "I can't get this theorem to work. There's something off about the dimensional holes on this earth. I think it has something to do with the black hole, but I can't be sure. It's not like I can recreate the black hole to see what effects it has on the dimensional holes still circulating around here. And simulations can only do so much!"

Roy nodded, able to follow along surprisingly well. Then again, Wally had described it in pretty easy to understand terms. He also wasn't talking in super speed like Barry sometimes did when he was excited. Roy said, "Can't you do some sort of, I don't know, mini test? Like make a mini black hole with a mini dimensional hole in some sort of… controlled environment?" It ended up coming out as more of a question as he realized that he really had no idea what he was talking about.

Wally smiled indulgently at him anyways and Roy was still deciding whether he should be offended or not when Wally spoke again, "We'd need to know where the dimensional holes are to find out more about them – like how to make them. If we knew how to make them, then there would be significantly less problems, but whatever that black hole did not only messed up the dimensional barrier, but it also effectively hid all of the dimensional holes."

Roy, inordinately pleased that Wally had said 'we' and feeling a little bit like he and the red headed speedster were some sort of little team of awesomeness (and never willing to admit that thought), said, "Well, how'd you find them last time?"

"I looked through the stratosphere and found folds in it. That signified a dimensional hole. Travel through one requires ripping the hole open, but they only open to about the size of a splayed hand. That's why you need speedsters because they can vibrate fast enough that their molecules can squeeze through that small hole as well as anyone they're carrying. Wait." Wally commanded, eyes still shut and fingering the ring that Roy had been told contained his costume. Wally continued, "You need a speedster. I'm a speedster. I went through dimensional holes. Residue. There has to be some sort of residue. Different frequency. Picking up edges of the holes. Search for specific material. Yes!"

Roy just blinked at him and said, "Uh, okay." He really didn't know what happened. It was easy to understand words and only a little faster than the average human, but it was so chopped up that he had no chance of understanding it. He wasn't sure if that was a speedster thing or a scientist thing. Or a speedster scientist thing.

He watched curiously at Wally rolled to another corner of the room, grabbing out a syringe and soaking it in alcohol. After a moment of sterilizing, he pulled it out and started drawing his own blood. Roy was starting to understand what Wally had realized. He had said the thing about the molecules vibrating to go through the small hole, so it made sense that as he was fitting through the small hole, he likely scraped the edges of the whole as he went, picking up some residue from the dimensional hole. If he could isolate the residue, then he'd be able to search this earth for whatever was in that residue to be able to find the dimensional holes. Roy was rather proud of himself for figuring that out.

Once it seemed obvious that Wally was intent on his task and would not be need any more helping guiding from Roy, the older hero turned back to his video games, keeping one ear open for any sound of something ready to explode or hurl a boomerang at him (which was a serious concern when someone other than Cisco – or even Cisco himself – was at Cisco's lab area).

It was some time later when Roy heard a curious beeping sound. He frowned to himself and paused the game he was playing, lifting his head a little so as to hear better. He frowned as the beeping intensified and he turned around to see Wally trying to balance some huge contraption on his knee as he rolled out of the room. Whatever it was on his knee was the thing causing the beeping. Rolling his eyes, Roy walked over and plucked the device out of Wally's hands, taking a corner as the beeping intensified, indicating that he should go that direction. He could feel Wally's eyes on him, but steadfastedly ignored him. He wasn't doing this because he thought Wally was a sweet kid and that it was adorably pitiful when he tried to roll out of the room and hold the device at the same time. That wasn't at all his reasoning. He was only doing this because the beeping annoyed him and he wanted to get this over with sooner. That was it.

Soon they made it to a room in the basement of STAR labs. The beeping got even louder and faster before cutting out altogether. Roy finally spoke, "What just happened?"

"It was designed to lead us in the right direction and then stop beeping once we got into the same room as a potential dimensional hole. I wasn't expecting one to be in STAR labs." Wally responded promptly, trying his best to roll around the room, but obviously not used to being confined to a wheelchair. Roy once again felt an urge to help him, but decided that he'd been nice enough for the day.

Roy frowned at Wally when the kid looked at him again, "So you're saying you were going to wander around Central City with that thing in your lap looking for a dimensional hole?"

Wally nodded dutifully, continuing his little circuit of the room, throwing things every once in a while as if that would help any. Roy just shook his head in amazement. This kid was certainly dedicated.

"Is this working?"

"How am I supposed to know if it's working? Am I on the other side?"

"No need to get all snippy with me."

Roy turned his head slowly to glance at the center of the room where the air seemed to be undulating, twisting, and bending. That was where the strange voices were coming from. It only took a second before Roy had his backup bow out and an arrow notched. He was stopped when Wally rolled over to him, shouting, "Wait! Wait. I know those voices."

There was a pause in the argument the voices were having before one of them asked him, voice full of joy, "You can hear us?"

Roy's frown deepened and he asked incredulously, "Barry?"

A voice that sounded like an older Oliver asked just as incredulously, "Roy?"

"Wally, how does he know my name? Why was Barry talking through that thing? And Oliver too?" Roy asked through gritted teeth, arrow down but still notched.

Wally shook his head, excitement overtaking any confusion that had been in those emerald eyes. His voice was a little shaky when he spoke, "Uncle B? Uncle Ollie? Is that really you guys? Did I just hear Tony and Bruce too?"

"Yes! We're all here, Wally. Just give us a second. It gets even better." The voice that sounded like Barry responded before the sounds became a little muted.

Roy turned to Wally, "Start talking. Now."

Wally nodded to him, even Roy's obvious discomfort not phasing his joy, "Uncle Barry and Uncle Oliver are the ones from my dimension. And Tony and Bruce are the ones from the dimension I was at before this one."

Another, currently unidentified voice popped out of the portal, "We named them so it wouldn't be so confusing. Ours is DC and the one you were in before the one you're currently in is Marvel. You have to pick a name for this one. Actually, you should let Roy pick it since it's his dimension."

"Robin!" Wally shouted before looking at Roy expectantly as if he actually expected the archer to pick a name for this dimension.

There was a moment's pause where they just stared at each other before Roy blew air out of his nose in frustration asking, "How am I supposed to know how to name it? How did you guys name yours?" He directed his last question at the writhing mass of air in the center of the room that was slowly gaining color.

The now named Robin answered cheerfully, "DC means Damian and Colin are the cutest couple."

Wally laughed and Roy heard someone growl from within the portal thing before another person spoke up, "Marvel is because there's a Captain Marvel and a Miss Marvel in my dimension and they're my friends and they're awesome. I'm Johnny by the way."

Roy grumbled to himself, not really liking the attention. This was the last time he visited Central City. Weird things happened here. Eventually he sighed, "I don't know. Just call it Earth 1."

"You can't name an entire dimension by the name of one planet. Being an alien myself, I find that quite offensive. I'm Superman." Another voice added.

The archer resisted the urge to punch something and just let his eye twitch instead, fists clenching. His teeth were gritted when he growled back, "You told me to pick one and I did. If you don't like it, then pick your own."

Robin laughed (although it was more like a cackle and Roy would be lying if he said it didn't terrify him) and said, "He's just like our Roy."

And then another voice – one that sounded exactly like Roy – grunted, "I'm cooler."

"Is that me from another dimension?" Roy directed the question at Wally, quite frankly considering the option of just leaving now and never coming back. At this point he'd take Team Arrow drama over this. On hindsight, maybe not.

The voice that sounded just like him responded, "Yep. Got a problem with that?"

Roy felt himself bristle, automatically throwing back, "I got a problem with that attitude you've got."

He ignored it when Wally whispered from next to him, "This is so weird."

The other Roy quipped, "That right? What're you going to do about it?"

Roy just rolled his eyes and said, "I'm going to ignore you. Once you started talking my day just got a little more dull. Listening to you drone on will only make it worse."

"Dude," Wally started, "You know that you're technically talking to yourself right now." Roy simply ignored him.

But that's when something miraculous happened. The moving air stopped and straightened itself into a large square that hung in the air. It was split down the middle – one side showing an image of some sort of lab facility populated by people in brightly colored suits with a snowy landscape visible through the window and the other side showing a bulkier lab with people in lab coats and only a few heroes lounging around. On the side with more heroes, Roy recognized someone that was wearing a suit like Barry did and another person who wore Oliver's suit or at least something close to it. There was even a Laurel look alike and then, after more searching through the crowds, a Roy look alike. It was really weird seeing himself. It was even weirder seeing a younger version of himself standing near the back. Did he have a little brother in that dimension?

He was torn out of his musings by the gasping breath that came from next to him. He looked over and saw the clear amazement on Wally's face and was reminded of the fact that this kid hadn't been able to see before then. This was the first time he was ever seeing these people. It kind of sucked that this was the way he first saw them, separated by dimensions. A dude with a mask with pointed ears (almost like a bat, but that would be weird) stepped forward and said quietly, with practically no emotion in his voice, "Wally. Your eyes are healed."

"Never thought I'd see the day when Batman would state the obvious." Wally joked, eyes shining with tears. Roy was just weirded out that the guy was actually dressed like a bat.

Someone from the other half (even with the mask on, Roy could tell he was just a kid) laughed and said, "You're so old."

"What a friendly welcome from the Marvel side of things." Wally said in a dry voice, his tears finally forced back until later.

Then a girl from (presumably) the DC side stepped forward. She had slightly Asian features and long, long blond hair pulled up in a ponytail with a bow and arrow set slung behind her back. Wally didn't move. The girl stepped as close to the dimensional hole as she could and put her hand out, "Hi Wally."

"Artemis." He breathed. Roy felt like he was interrupting an intimate moment.

Artemis laughed a little, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, "I've missed you so much, baby."

"I've missed you too, Arty. God, I knew you were beautiful, but I never knew you were this beautiful. I really got a good one, didn't I?" Wally said back, a single tear following the trail of one of the scars on his eyes before sliding off his cheek and into the chair.

He wheeled the chair forward a little bit, presumably to be closer to the one he loved, but he was interrupted by a gasp, "What happened? Why are you in that wheelchair? Are you okay? Where are you? They've been treating you good, right? Who are you staying with?Isitsafe whereyouare?" The words bled into speed talk by the end and Roy didn't even catch the last couple of questions.

Wally laughed in delight at the screen showing the two dimensions he'd been to before this one before answering, "It's fine Uncle B. I just ran into some trouble with an evil speedster and he, uh, well… hekindofbrokemyback. But it's fine! I'm only paralyzed for a little bit. They say that I'll be up and running around in a week or so. I'm fine. It's taken some getting used to being able to see and quite frankly I'm still not used to it. It gives me headaches every once in a while because the rest of my senses didn't diminish any. I'm at STAR labs in Central City on Earth 1 right now. They've been treating me wonderfully. They have a speedster so they know how to take care of one. I'm getting enough food and rest and running. I'm staying with this dimension's Flash and his foster dad Joe West and foster sister Iris West." That apparently meant something because the Flash from DC rocked back on his feet a little bit. Wally continued, "When I'm not with them at their house, I'm here at STAR labs with Caitlin Snow-," That name got a reaction from a lot of the people with bats on their costumes (what was it with bats in DC?), but Wally just kept going, "Cisco Ramon, Ronnie Raymond, and Dr. Martin Stein. Roy is with me right now because the others all had stuff to do and they wanted someone to watch me. It is safe where I am right now and Zoom – the aforementioned evil speedster – is not a threat currently. That answer all your questions?"

Roy was so impressed that he managed to remember and hear all of those that he almost missed it when Barry (DC) responded fondly, "That about covers it, kiddo. By the way, I've got a message from the Rogues. They said that once you come back you have to go straight to their hideout – probably the one by the lake – for a thorough lecture and a game of darts with James. Although, knowing them it'll turn into a dinner thing and then an overnight thing and then a stay for the weekend thing, so be prepared for that."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Wally answered with a sarcastic smile.

"I'm glad you're safe, Wally." A voice from the Marvel dimension added, a smile gracing lips that looked as if they didn't smile often.

"Daredevil!" Wally grinned before the grin faded a little and he ended up just looking worried, "How are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Wally. Worry about yourself for once." The man, Daredevil, grunted back, obviously done being concerned. Whatever he said worked, however, because Wally's grin came back full force and he positively beamed at the Marvel side of the screen. Roy wasn't sure how he was that happy, but it was painful to look at. He was slightly amused and slightly saddened at the way Wally's eyes flicked over each and every person several times, seeing them for the first time.

Just then there was a whoosh of air behind him before Barry (Earth 1) cursed and sped next to Wally and Roy (Earth 1), staring at the portal/screen/dimensional hole thing. He asked, horrified, "What's going on? What is this?"

"Is that me?" Barry (DC) asked incredulously.

"That's me!" Barry (Earth 1) stuttered in surprise.

Wally added in cheerfully, "You don't look anything alike, but your heartbeats and voice are practically identical."

"Whoa… I'm starting to think that I might have been better off staying for cake at mom's house." Cisco breathed out, staring at the screen in shock. He only paused for a moment before pointing and exclaiming, "Hey that's Vibe! He's the one you were telling me about." Wally just smiled indulgently at him while the Vibe person frowned in confusion. This was honestly just one big mess of confusion.

Batman cut into the conversation efficiently, "Is this a hidden enough location that this dimensional screen can stay, or do we need to find somewhere else?"

"It's fine where it is. The only people who come in here already know about my whole situation." Wally responded promptly, eyes still scanning across the screens.

"You certainly let them know a little sooner than you let us know." Some dude in this spangly outfit commented wryly, a sad little smile curling his lips.

Wally returned the smile before it turned into a grin, "They did put me in the Pipeline – aka their little prison thing – for a while, but it all turned out okay once I just talked with them."

"They put you in prison?" One of the people who'd been hanging towards the back of the DC group growled, a helmet covering any expression he might have been wearing.

"Yes, Red Hood. They put me in jail. In their defense, I was a speedster that came out of nowhere, hacked into their comms, helped them stop a black hole, called one of them Uncle, and then promptly fainting before telling them that I'm from another dimension, but got stuck in a different dimension before coming to this dimension and I used to be blind. That was a lot for them to take in. I think they handled it quite well, considering. And they even fed me the amount I needed, so it was all good in the end." Wally finished with a huge smile, Red Hood scoffing before returning to his post at the back of the group, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"We need to figure out what to do from here on out." Barry (DC) commented.

Barry (Earth 1) threw back, "Ronnie, Dr. Stien, Cisco, Wally, and I have been throwing around some equations, trying to get them to balance out. Our biggest problem was that the dimensional holes are kind of hiding. We don't have anything solid to test. Speaking of, how did you guys start to interact? As far as I know, Wally spends all his time in Cisco's lab."

Roy leaned back against the wall, arrow still notched (which he was sure the heroes had glanced at it before narrowing their eyes at him which was disconcerting) and said, "Wally had the idea that some residue from getting squeezed through a dimensional hole would still be in his bloodstream, so he isolated the residue and built a tracker to find other locations with the same stuff that was in the residue and it led us here."

Cisco was watching him with wide eyes, "I think that's the most I've heard you say in one go… ever." Roy just rolled his eyes at him.

"Wally. We'll need all that research. If we all work as hard as we did last time, we can get you home soon." Batman grunted out.

Wally started to nod when Daredevil growled in return, "Get someone else to give him the research, Wally. You need to rest. You've just gotten your back broken so you should take some time to let it heal."

"I think I know my son well enough, Daredevil. He doesn't like to be inactive. If he can be helping, then he'll help whether we want him to or not." Batman hissed back, the white slots of his cowl narrowing (how did that even work?).

Daredevil actually took a threatening step forward, the others around him stepping back in fear, "I think I know my partner well enough to tell when he needs to rest or not. There were times when we were on patrol together and I would tell him to sit something out because he'd gotten hurt in a past altercation and he was completely fine with it because he knew that he needed to rest." Wally was glancing between the two sides of the screen with wide eyes and a slightly frightened expression. Roy felt bad for him; it was almost like watching Oliver and Felicity fight.

Batman growled back, taking a mirrored step forward, the DC people moving back this time, "You thought you knew your partner well enough. Since he was my partner and is my son, I know all the parts of him and know that he wants to help. Back off."

"You don't scare me. I'm going to do what's best for Wally and you and your paranoid, workaholic, drill-sergeant self can just step back while I take care of your son, something you are apparently incapable of doing." Daredevil snarled back, the half of his face that was visible twisted into an angry frown.

Batman was just opening his mouth to respond when Barry (Earth 1) stepped in front of Wally, putting a hand behind him to rest comfortingly on Wally's shoulder, saying, "Whoa, whoa… let's just calm down here. There's no need for everyone to get so upset. How about Wally takes a break tonight and then gets back into the swing of things tomorrow? What do you think, Wally?" Wally nodded easily, eyes still flicking between Daredevil and Batman, fear still lingering there. Barry (Earth 1) smiled reassuringly at him before turning to face the dimensional screen again, "See? That way everyone's happy. Cisco will take Wally home since Joe is there already, so he won't be alone and I'll get you the research. Cisco and I will explain it to you and you can explain what you have to us and then we'll start working. We'll send Wally a recording of the original transfer of info and he can read our notes and come right back in tomorrow."

Both men backed down immediately, listening to that calm voice of reason that was Barry (Earth 1) Allen. That didn't mean the problem was solved. Looking at the obvious tension between the two dimensions, Roy sighed to himself and realized that he couldn't get out now. This was seriously the last time he was coming to Central to visit.


	10. Chapter 10

WWWWWW

Wally was humming contentedly to himself as he munched on a tub of ice cream Iris had gotten him earlier, scooping with one hand and flipping through some notes with the other. He was reading at a pace somewhere between super speed and normal so he could have at least a little bit of retention from the reading he did. These were all the notes that DC and Marvel had compiled while they were trying to find him. The idea that they all tried so hard to take care of him was kind of amazing actually.

Barry (Earth 1) walked into the basement room with the dimensional screens in the background and Wally beamed at him, inordinately happy with his lot in life at the moment. Sure, he was in another dimension and currently had no way of getting home, but that didn't matter because everyone he loved were all here in this one room at once and he could see them just as easily as he could hear them. Sure, he couldn't smell them or feel them like he normally could, but that was okay because that would be fixed soon. Barry (Earth 1) smiled and said, "It's nice seeing you so happy. You were always happy, but it always seemed more like a mask than true happiness and trust me, I know masks of happiness."

Wally smiled back, genuine and full, "I think all speedsters know masks of happiness. But, yeah, I am happy now. I'm one step closer to home. With all of us working so hard on this, I'll be going home any day now."

Barry shook his head slightly, a smile tugging at his own lips, "I'm still not sure how to deal with the fact that there is another me out there. He seems different from me. Is that just because I'm biased and don't want to think about the fact that there is someone else exactly like me out there, or is he actually different?"

"Well, first of all, I'm going to be calling you Barry and him B otherwise I'll get confused." Wally said and Barry laughed in concession. Wally continued, "I mean, I obviously don't know you that well, but you are different. I can't truthfully tell you whether that's because you've grown up different than he did – he didn't have Iris and Joe back then. He was at the Central Orphanage and he also got his powers a little differently from you. There are a lot of differences between your pasts and the way you developed as heroes, but you two have a lot of the same quirks. Who's to say that by the time you become the age his is now, you won't act just like he does right now? But, at the very least, you don't currently act alike."

Wally heard the sounds of Barry worrying his lip with his teeth, the soft biting noise identifying the movement without Wally even needing to turn around. He had always cursed his super human senses even if they meant that he could run, but now that he had sight, they'd become even more of a hindrance. How did Clark or Conner deal with this all the time? It sucked. Then Barry spoke again, a tired quality to his voice, "Are you curious as to what the Wally West from Earth 1 is like? Do you want to find him and meet him?"

"If he's not already in the hero life, then I'm certainly not going to drag him into it. This isn't a life that we should just drag civilians into even if it's just by searching up their name and a little bit about them. It always escalates and they get dragged into this and their lives are ruined. There's no leaving this life unless by death." His words sounded bitter to his own ears, but luckily Barry didn't comment on it. He didn't need to.

Barry went on, "It freaks me out, more than I care to admit. I don't know why it bothers me to know that there's another me out there. I guess it's something about people always telling you that you're unique and that you will always special because there is no one out there exactly like you and then – bam – here's another person who acts like you and talks like you and even has the same heartbeat. How am I supposed to deal with that? I'm the fastest man alive – except for myself. He's older than me so he's obviously going to be faster because he's trained more, survived more. I'm not even better than myself. That doesn't even make sense! Anyways, it's stupid, just ignore me."

A voice laughed from the location of the portals, "That's a difference right there. Barry from DC would never say to ignore him. He's an attention leech."

Wally laughed in response, "We're calling him B now, Uncle Hal. Uncle B is just B and Barry will still be Barry. That way we won't get them confused. And B's not an attention leech! He's just friendly."

"He's got you brainwashed, more like it. You and your hero worship of the Flash. Foolish little child. Green Lanterns are so much cooler." Hal responded with a grin that Wally was beyond gratified that he could actually see. Wally had never drawn mental images of what the people he knew looked like, but somehow Hal's looks fit the personality and scents Wally had compiling in his mind in a little box labeled Hal Jordan.

Barry's curious voice entered the conversation, "What is a Green Lantern?"

"None in your dimension? Ah, that's a stupid question. They probably just don't have any humans in their ranks yet. I was the first human in DC's Green Lantern Corps. They didn't think that humans had it in them to be Green Lanterns, but I proved them wrong. Quite spectacularly, I'd say. Basically, Green Lanterns are the protectors of the universe, keeping the order and saving people. We get our power from this ring on our finger which is powered by the green energy source on Oa, the planet we're based out of. Wally's got a ring specially made for him by the Guardians – the ones that divvy out the power. Speedsters are the only non-Green Lanterns I've known who can use a ring although Green Arrow could resist one which was pretty impressive. Anyways, got a basic understanding?"

"Yeah, I think so." Barry smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. This was so weird for Wally. Sure, he liked Barry a lot, but he wasn't B and none of the others were the way that Wally knew them to be because they were different. Traveling to other dimensions sucked. He wasn't sure if he'd come back to this dimension if he got a chance. Well, he'd come if they needed help, but he didn't plan to get attached to them like he did with the people in the Marvel universe. Although, he hadn't really planned to get attached to them either, but spending eight months in a dimension with them made it practically impossible to not get attached. He'd lived with them and fought with them for all that time. Those thoughts reminded him of Daredevil. Matt hadn't seemed all that upset, which was nice. They hadn't really had a real conversation after their whole argument and then subsequent kind of making up moment after the whole Reverse Flash debacle (Wally shuddered inwardly even thinking about that) and Wally wasn't really sure where he stood with Matt.

But then Matt had gone and argued with Bruce about what he should be doing and Wally just got even more confused. Did that mean that Matt wasn't mad at him anymore and just wanted to keep him safe and protected like always? Or did that mean that Matt was still mad at him and didn't want him to be around? And then there was the fact that Matt and Bruce were arguing in the first place. They were both like the dad he hadn't had in his biological father and he had really wanted them to get along and like each other. He'd been super nervous when he had realized that he was going to see them interact and then they'd started a fight and he'd been devastated. He hadn't known what to do. What kind of reaction does one have when their almost fathers started arguing over how much input he should have in the research to get home? Pitifully enough, his first reaction had been fear. He'd felt his eyes grow wide and he struggled to lower his heart rate as he heard them arguing. It reminded him terribly of when his biological mother and father started arguments when he was a child. He always came out of those beaten black and blue and missing supper for a few days. When Matt and Bruce argued, Wally had felt such an intense need to run and run and not come back because argument meant pain and hunger and a huge sense of uselessness. But he hadn't been able to run. He was confined to this stupid wheelchair and he hadn't been able to escape. The only thing that had saved him was Barry's comfortably familiar hand on his shoulder, giving him comfort that he'd been hard pressed to not lean into like a little kid.

Wally hadn't realized that the smile he'd been wearing all morning had run away from his face at some point during his inner musings until Barry's voice broke into his thoughts, "Are you okay, Wally?"

He didn't even get a chance to answer before Uncle Hal started talking, "They weren't thinking straight. They would never have argued in front of you like that if they were thinking, but they were pretty overwhelmed by the entire situation. You were right in front of them and you could see. That's a lot to take in. They both got rather spectacular scoldings though, which was amusing. Dick, Peter, Johnny, and Roy all ganged up on the two of them and told them how stupid they were being. Expect gruff kind-of-not-really apologies from them the next time you see them. Then again, Bar- er, B gave them quite the talking to as well, so you might get actual real apologies."

A smile slowly came back to Wally's face before he outright grinned at Uncle Hal. There were no words he could say to express the gratitude he felt. It wasn't just that he was thankful that Hal was there to comfort him, but it was the idea that he finally had someone to comfort him who had known him for max eight months. It was nice to talk to people who'd known him for most of his life. It was nice to see them too. It was almost perfect. All he needed now was to be able to touch them and get the sense that they really were real and he really was home. But he wasn't home yet. He needed to work on that. So Wally nodded to his pseudo uncle and Barry before turning back to his work and starting to test out his equations based on the research the DC and Marvel dimensions had given him.

He heard Barry and Uncle Hal get into a conversation behind him, the two talking avidly about airplanes (who would have known that Barry had a thing for planes and actually knew quite a bit about them?). Throughout the day, various other people came into the conversation either on the other side of the dimensional screen, or in the room that Wally currently sat. People continuously brought him food and ideas and smiles and kind words and Wally realized that he hadn't had this much fun in a long, long time. He'd needed this after his recent ordeals.

Eventually, it was just B, Uncle Hal, Uncle Ollie, and Barry talking and Wally just kept trying to not laugh when B and Barry said the same thing to each other at the same time. They gave each other such scandalized looks that it was near impossible to not laugh. At least, Wally thought so. And if the laughter was any indication, Uncle Ollie and Uncle Hal thought so as well.

They all sat and talked about various things for a long time, going from airplanes to life as a superhero, to their childhood, to tech, to kids, to whatever else randomly came up and it was kind of amazing. At least, it was kind of amazing until Oliver (Earth 1) walked into the room. All conversation paused as all eyes shifted to the newcomer and Wally held his breath as he waited for something to happen because, honestly, this could go any way. Wally was more than a little relieved when Ollie (DC) spoke randomly, "I call Ollie. You will be called Oliver and I'll be called Ollie and no one will get confused."

Oliver's only reaction was to narrow his eyes and hiss out, "Barry, I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Wally watched at Ollie's eyebrows rose and a distinctly unimpressed expression settled across his face. Wally winced and figured that it was probably better if he got the two Queens separated before something bad happened. Speaking quickly, Wally rolled over to Oliver and said, "I'll answer the questions. Why don't we go for a walk around STAR labs? I wouldn't want to interrupt Barry's conversations with the others and I could probably explain things better anyways." He sent a wink (he'd been so impressed with himself when he realized he could do that now) in Barry's direction, receiving an eye roll in response (one that he wouldn't have known about without his newfound sight). He then started to roll out of the room, Oliver following reluctantly behind.

Oliver waited until they were out in the almost cool air of a summer night in Central City to start talking, "What was that thing?"

"I'm sure you don't want all the science behind it, but that was a dimensional hole – like the one I went through to get here – that the other dimensions converted into a screen that displays the room it is located in to the other dimensions involved in the hole. Basically, it's a trans-dimensional Skype device." Wally responded promptly.

"Was your original dimension the one with people in it or the one without? And who was the one who knew my name?" Oliver shot back impatiently.

"My original dimension – we're calling it the DC dimension – was the one with people in it and the other we're calling Marvel. This dimension is being called Earth 1. The person who knew your name was your doppelganger from my dimension. He's my Uncle Ollie. He's also the Green Arrow of that dimension. You two are pretty different." Wally threw back, less irritated with this man's attitude now that his Ollie was here and he could talk to him and he was almost home to him. It made it so much easier to deal with this crabby version who seemed to think that everything was a threat who was out to get him. Honestly, he was almost as bad as Batman and maybe even worse than Daredevil. It was ridiculous!

All thoughts of the ridiculousness of Oliver's behavior was thrown from his mind an instant later, however, when time seemed to slow around him – a speedster's own little version of a spider sense – and he saw in normal speed someone with blue lightning running straight towards him. Zoom. The man who broke his back. He was heading straight towards Wally and Oliver and his gaze seemed to be locked on the archer who wasn't even aware of the problem yet. Desperately, Wally cursed his useless legs and locked his wheelchair so it wouldn't start rolling around and causing problems for everyone and pushed Oliver out of the way. There was no way he was going to let Oliver be taken by this monster. He may not like the guy all that much, but he would never, never just sit there while people were in danger. Even if he couldn't protect the archer like he normally would, he would do the best with what he had – in this case, advanced warning.

It was as Oliver tumbled to the ground out of harm's reach that Wally realized that this was exactly what Zoom had wanted. Oliver had been too close to Wally and was likely to have been in the way if Zoom wanted to grab Wally. That was why Zoom projected his intentions to get Oliver so clearly. He wanted Wally to read those and get Oliver out of the way for him. And Wally had played right into it. Alas, there was nothing he could do as Zoom's arm snaked around his waist and ripped him from the wheelchair, painfully jarring his recently broken back. As the world flashed by and faded into a swirl of colors around him, Wally thought to himself that at least Oliver was safe. That was his last thought before he blacked out.


	11. Chapter 11

WWWWWW

Although he hated to admit it, Wally had passed out just before Zoom had jumped through some weird, portal type thing. He really hadn't been expecting the amount of pain that came with his back being jostled. It was like getting it broken all over again and he was really hoping that wasn't the case because that would mean even more time in that stupid wheelchair and he really didn't want to deal with that.

Groaning inwardly, Wally made sure his muscles stayed lax and his breathing even as he opened his senses and tried to get a feel for the room he was in. Sniffing delicately enough that no one would have even been able to detect the change in breathing pattern, Wally could smell lingering traces of mildew along with the tang of metal, and the crispness of glass. Shifting that last scent to the back of his mind to think on later, Wally continued to search the room with his senses. Next he let sounds wash over him: the hollow song of a little bit of wind moving through metal bars to his left, the nearly silent (even for him) ping of a light wind on glass surrounding him from all sides, and more glass across from wherever he was. He let his mouth fall open to taste the air, but that told him nothing more than he'd already known. Finally, he shifted his fingers and arms and felt his surroundings. The ground he was on felt like hard rock – not concrete, but almost… actual cavern rock like he'd feel at the Bat Cave. There were chains around his wrists and probably some more anchoring his ankles, but he still couldn't feel anything from the waist down. It was when he shifted his shoulders that he felt the pain. Even with all of his Bat training, he still couldn't help the small hiss that slipped out from between his teeth at the pain emanating from his back. That little run with Zoom had not felt good. At all.

As if his hiss of pain had summoned the monster, Wally could hear Zoom suddenly speed in front of him. Finally using his last (and most recent) sense, Wally opened his eyes and sped his vision over the room. He was in a glass cage and seated on rocky flooring. His hands and legs were cuffed to chains that dug into the ground and, after an experimental little tug, were quite firmly in the ground. There was another glass cage directly opposite, currently unoccupied with its chains flung against the far wall. Kitty corner to his cage there was another cage, but this time made of metal poles. And directly in front of him was Zoom himself, vibrating and standing eerily still. Blue lightning sparked off of him in little bursts. Wally would be lying if he said that he wasn't rather terrified. This man had taken away his ability to run, something that not even the Joker had been able to do. What else could this monster do to him? It was terrifying to even contemplate it.

After a moment of the two just staring at each other (at least, Wally was pretty sure Zoom was staring at him; it was hard to tell with that mask), Zoom turned away and spoke, "I've taken him." That voice was just as terrifying as the rest of the speedster and Wally felt himself shudder minutely at the sound, cringing away just a little bit. It made him feel all of five years old again and scared of his father, so he leaned forward and lifted his chin up, glaring at the older speedster with every bit of hatred he could muster up. At this point, there really wasn't another person Wally hated more than Zoom.

He quickly changed his mind when another voice spoke into the air and a dimensional hole shimmered into existence, "Good. Do with him what you will – just don't let him go back to the Earth you took him from. For now, we will watch the other dimensions panic. This will cause dissension among them and will make it so their forces will not work together as well as they had hoped. The Dimensional Light will contact you soon." Vandal Savage. As the dimensional hole shimmered back into nothingness, Wally felt a growl grow in his throat, finally letting it escape as all signs of the hole disappeared.

Zoom turned back to him and, even though Wally couldn't see his face, he had the strangest feeling that Zoom was laughing at him. So he growled at the older speedster too, hating his predicament. That immortal couldn't give up already! He's chased Wally through three dimensions. He needed to take a defeat and go away. Wally decided then and there that it was Vandal Savage whom he hated the most. The man was a monster dedicated to breaking Wally and, as much as Wally was horrified to admit it, there was a good chance that he would succeed. If Savage kept at this game, he would eventually find whatever it is that would make Wally break. Everyone had a breaking point and if you kept pressing buttons, eventually you'll find the right one. There were only so many more buttons he could press. Wally was running out of options and that was making him feel cornered. He hated feeling cornered.

The point of being a speedster is being able to run and now, even if he wasn't chained in a glass prison, his legs were useless and he wouldn't be able to run anyways. He still had his Bat training though, which he just had to hope was enough to get back to Barry. Except, this was, as explained by Savage, not his Earth. If he couldn't walk, how was he supposed to get back to his Earth 1? He couldn't figure out how to get back to his own dimension with a wheelchair, friends, and a lack of homicidal speedsters. How was he supposed to do it here with Zoom breathing down his neck?

Zoom's voice snapped Wally out of his trance and made him shudder all in the same sentence, "I'm not going to kill you – not yet. For now, I'm going to keep you as my pet, my trophy. I defeated the speedster who's survived several dimensions and aided in taking down the Light. I did it. Me. Soon, the world – no, the worlds – will see that I am the best speedster."

"You'll never be the best speedster! The Flash will always be better than you! And if you somehow defeat him, then there are more out there, just waiting to take you down. Good always trumps evil in the long run." Wally hissed out, slightly weirded out at the fact that he could even hiss at people. He normally wasn't that kind of person – he left that for his brothers. But there was something about Zoom that brought out the worst in him.

And then suddenly Zoom was right in front of him, gripping his throat and smashing him against the wall. Wally gasped out in pain as his back was jostled yet again, clawing at the hand around his throat while his feet dangled uselessly below him, dead weights that only served to allow Zoom to tighten his grip further. Zoom started vibrating his other hand, bringing it closer and closer to Wally's shoulder, his soulless eye slits boring into Wally's emerald orbs as his vibrating hand came dangerously close to the red shirt pulled over Wally's pale, freckled shoulders. Wally stopped gasping for breath, just meeting Zoom's eyes with his own terrified ones. There was a moment's pause where Zoom stopped his hand just centimeters away from Wally's shirt before he plunged it in, slowing down the vibrations seconds afterwards so Wally would feel the hand practically rearranging his molecules.

Biting back a scream, Wally struck out, catching Zoom under the chin and snapping the monster's head back before trying to kick the older speedster. Inwardly cursing as he remembered his paralyzed lower half, Wally tried another hit to Zoom's head, but the second's long hesitation had lost him the moment of surprise and Zoom ripped his hand out of Wally's shoulder just in time to grip the hand that was about to land a blow on a pressure point. Growling, Zoom threw Wally across the room. Before Wally had even landed on the ground (jarring his broken back and the gaping wound in his back along with breaking a few fingers as he landed wrong), Zoom was out of the glass prison and vibrating in anger again. The two stared at each other for a moment again, Zoom just vibrating with rage and Wally panting through his pain and hatred. And then Zoom was gone, racing out of the room or cave or whatever it was. Wally just used his uninjured arm to run a hand through his hair. He settled against the glass wall he'd landed against and breathed deeply.

He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was sick of getting taken and not knowing whether there would be people coming to rescue him. He wanted to be home in his dimension where he knew people would come save him. He had the Team and Artemis and Flash and the other speedsters and the Justice League and even the Rogues if they were feeling up to it. Here, he didn't even have the people at STAR labs because he wasn't even on that Earth. This was the fourth Earth he'd been to. How many more would he go to before this little horror show was done with? How much longer would he have to wait? How much longer could he wait before these other dimensions killed him?

Shaking the melancholy thoughts from his mind, Wally leaned further against the wall and started setting his broken fingers. People would rescue him. They would. He knew they would. He hoped they would.

OOOOOO

Oliver didn't know what to do. He hadn't even processed what was happened before there was a blur of warm lightning and he was pushed to the ground. And then there was a rush of blue lightning and he was left sitting on the ground staring up, startled, at an empty wheelchair. Wally had just pushed him out of the way and gotten kidnapped by a speedster in the process. Oliver hadn't even known there was another speedster. He also hadn't known that the other dimensions had made contact, that they could make contact. He'd also forgotten (admittedly, probably on purpose) that there was another him out there. Oliver noted that he might actually be in a little bit of shock. It had been a long time since he'd felt this out of it, but there was a lot going on right about now. He felt justified in being so freaked out.

That was when it really hit him. That other speedster had just taken Wally. Wally had sacrificed himself to save Oliver, getting kidnapped by the blue speedster. And he'd just been about to accuse the ginger speedster of trying to hurt Barry. Speaking of Barry, the brunette speedster was going to kill Oliver. The people in those other dimensions were probably going to do their best to kill him too despite being in another dimension. That was something that Oliver really didn't want to wrap his mind around. Other dimensions. It wasn't that he didn't know they were there, or didn't believe that they were there; he just wished they weren't. He hated himself for it, but he wished life was back at the point where the people he faced were normal people with a lot of training, like him. Now there were metas and alternate universes and time travel and Lazarus pits and real life monsters that would make little kids weep in their beds. He knew there was a problem with the world when he considered normal to be two highly trained fighters dressing up in costumes and fighting with ancient weapons on the streets of Starling.

Cursing at himself for losing track of time and sitting there for so long, Oliver stumbled (rather thankful that Barry couldn't see him at that moment) into a standing position and mechanically moved the wheelchair back into the building, figuring that a lone wheelchair in the parking lot would raise some questions. Then he squared his shoulders and headed down towards the basement where the dimensional screen was and where Barry was.

It took him less time than he wanted it to for him to end up in the basement room. It only took seconds for the occupants to notice him and then the other Oliver (Ollie, his mind supplied; he'd asked to be called Ollie) stood up from the machine he'd been leaning against with the smallest of scowls on his face. Oliver noticed that as he had been out talking with Wally, some more people had joined the DC side of the dimensional screen (this was all just too abnormal for him). The other Barry (DC) stood up too, one second sitting down and the other in a standing position. He was the first to speak, his voice tight with what sounded like worry, "Where's Wally?"

That was when Barry (Earth 1) stood up and faced Oliver, a panicked expression on his face. This was all getting too confusing. The two Barrys were acting exactly like each other and they were both worried over Wally who could be a threat and they wouldn't even know it because they were all reeled in by his little sob story. But then Oliver thought of how Wally had pushed Oliver out of the way even knowing that he couldn't run and could probably barely fight. The emerald archer finally found his voice and said, "Wally's been taken. I don't know what happened. One minute we were talking and the next Wally was pushing me out of the way and there was this blue lightning and then Wally was gone."

There was complete, utter silence for a moment as everyone just stared at him. And then Ollie was punching the wall, curses escaping his mouth as he hit the wall one more time before rounding on Oliver, "What were you doing? How could you have possibly let him get kidnapped?"

"It wasn't exactly like I chose it! The other person was a speedster – they were moving too fast for me to have done anything either way." Oliver growled at his doppelganger, more than a little fed up with the entire situation.

"Wally said this location was safe. He said that the evil speedster was not a threat at the moment. Why does this keep happening to him?" The other Barry (DC) muttered, pacing across the room and literally wearing holes in the ground.

Barry (Earth 1) faced back towards the dimensional screen, concern lighting up his features, "Hey, B, it's going to be alright. We're going to get Wally back and he's going to be okay. I don't know where Zoom went or what he wants, but -,"

He was cut off by Barry (DC), or, Oliver guessed, B, saying, "Wait, wait, wait. Zoom? The evil speedster who broke Wally's back was named Zoom?"

"Yeah…" Barry trailed off, obviously not sure where this was going.

B groaned before putting his head in his hands and speaking through his gloves, "This better not be the Zoom from our dimension. I can't imagine any speedster from our dimension would want to go after Wally after what happened to the last one to go after him, but still."

"What happened to the last speedster who fought Wally?" Oliver demanded.

At the same time, Ollie asked, "Zoom sounds familiar to me, but I'm not remembering him as much as I should."

Oliver's question was completely ignored as some other hero with a bat painted across his chest started talking, voice deep and scratchy and more intimidating than Green Arrow could ever hope to be, "Zoom. Hunter Zolomon. Father was a serial killer who killed his mother. He was a profiler for the FBI and later for Keystone City police. He got his powers by attempting to steal the Cosmic Treadmill from the Flash museum, causing an explosion in the process. That explosion gave him the ability to manipulate the speed at which he could move in time, giving off the impression of a speedster's abilities. Current location: unknown." The man was like a walking encyclopedia. How did someone know that much about villains off the top of their heads?

Barry spoke next, his voice thoughtful, "No, it couldn't have been him then. This person was definitely a speedster. I don't know how I know, but when I was fighting him, I could tell. It was almost like… like I could feel him. I don't know if that makes any sense."

B was nodding, "That makes perfect sense. It's another little ability of ours. We can sense the Speed Force in others. I wasn't sure if you'd gotten that far yet because it took me forever to figure out how to do that. I was always pretty good at regulating my inner speed whereas Wally was always better at regulating the speed around him in order to focus his speed. We think that's because of his extra senses, but we really aren't sure. There's a lot about speedsters that not even speedsters understand." The two Barrys shared a smile and Oliver couldn't help but glance at Ollie and wonder how the two could possibly work together that well already.

The man with the bat on his chest spoke again, voice still that deep growl, "If he's not from our dimension that means he's from yours. That means that Wally is probably still in your dimension. Find him."

The man looked like he was about to sweep away, but Oliver wasn't having any of that. He lowered his voice into his familiar Arrow growl and asked, "Who are you?"

The man turned to look at him, eye slits narrowing (which really shouldn't be possible) before speaking resolutely, "I'm Batman." And then he really did sweep out of the room, cape swishing into place behind him.

Oliver could only stare at the man that Wally had compared him to the first time they met. He wasn't sure if he should be insulted or proud to have been compared the Batman. On the one hand, that hero was every bit as terrifying to his enemies as Oliver wanted to be, but on the other hand, that hero was just as terrifying to his comrades and his civilians and Oliver didn't want that. The other man in green with a circle and two straight lines on his chest spoke next, "Batman's just being an extra jerk because he's worried about Wally. Wally used to be his partner and he just wants the kid to come home. But, jerk or not, he's got a point. We need to find a way to track Zoom. He has to be somewhere on your earth unless he's figured out how to go from dimension to dimension on his own. We'll help as much as we can from over here, but there's not a lot we can do from another dimension. You guys are pretty much on your own."

And somehow Oliver knew that the man in green was including him too. All Oliver wanted to do was go back to his own city, but, his fault or not, Wally had gotten kidnapped while he was with Oliver, even going so far as to sacrifice himself for the archer, and Oliver would not let the debt go unpaid. He would find Wally.


	12. Chapter 12

CCCCCC

Cisco was worried. Okay, super mega freaked out would be a better description, but worried was easier to say. Wally had been kidnapped. By Zoom. Which apparently Wally got kidnapped relatively often and it wasn't really ever good for him. Then again, when is getting kidnapped good for anyone? Why is Cisco getting so distracted? Shaking his head and focusing again, Cisco went back to analyzing the wheelchair (and he still couldn't believe that they had put Wally in one of Wells's wheelchairs because… because no), going through the mechanics to see if they picked up anything of Zoom's. There were a lot of things these wheelchairs could do and Cisco was still trying to go through them and figure it out as a sort of side project, but Wells hadn't been dead for very long and he was doing his best to help Wally get home, but sometimes a man just needed to work on a different project for a little bit to clear his brain and that was what these wheelchairs were for Cisco. It helped him to start to get over the whole Wells situation when he was unraveling the man's secrets.

But the small amount of research he'd been doing on them evidently hadn't been enough to figure out some sort of function that would help him figure out where Zoom went. The evil speedster had managed to get somewhere away from cameras before he disappeared completely.

Feeling increasingly frustrated and concerned and generally hating what was going on at the moment, Cisco punched the wheelchair, immediately starting a curse as his hand throbbed and the wheelchair rolled backwards into the wall. He never got to finish the curse, though, as the whole world pulsed around him and everything faded out in a sort of spiky way (he didn't even know how that worked, but that was what it felt like to him) and suddenly he was standing in some sort of cavern thing and there was Wally, back pressed against a glass wall, chains holding every limb captive, and, worst, a large bloody smear on the glass behind him, concentrated on the area of his shoulder. Cisco's mouth went dry as the world pulsed around him again and he took a shaky step forward, mouth working until he finally called out, "Wally? Wally!"

It didn't look like the ginger heard him, though because the kid continued to just breath gently and tap out a pattern on the floor, fingers skittering on the cavern surface gently and quietly. It looked like some sort of nervous tic and it would have been kind of endearing if Wally wasn't bleeding out in a prison at the moment. Cisco wasn't really sure what was going on, though. Was this some sort of image produced by stress and worry? Or was this something more? Wells had said… no! No! He didn't want to think of that man. He didn't want to think of anything. He just wanted Wally back. Cisco swallowed thickly again and started glancing around the room, trying to get some sort of clue as to where he was.

Then a voice sounded out from behind him, a female, "Looks like you're Zoom's new little toy. How about we play some?" A jet of ice passed through Cisco and smashed into the glass next to Wally's head. The kid didn't even flinch. There was a growl from the woman and then Cisco was ripped out of whatever that was. He was left gasping in his lab, trying to make sense of what was going on. That voice… that voice had sounded achingly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. There was a hollow quality to it that displaced the memory of the voice and Cisco wasn't really sure he wanted to remember. Closing his eyes, Cisco plopped down into his chair and tried to think through the situation. This was obviously not normal. It wasn't right. This… this must be what Wells was talking about. Wells had told Cisco that he had powers, that the particle accelerator had affected him, but he hadn't believed him – no, he hadn't wanted to believe him. And now… now here he was with powers and he couldn't even figure out where Wally was.

Shaking his head firmly, Cisco tried to rid himself of the traitorous thoughts. He was a scientist. He's been helping with Barry's training since day one. He could train himself. He would keep trying and trying until he got it. He would do this for Wally so the kid could finally get home. For Barry so he could help him more in the future. For Oliver so the grumpy archer didn't feel so guilty about losing Wally. For those other dimensions so they could see the one they loved home safe. For himself so he could finally be rid of Wells's ghost.

Mind made up, Cisco reached out for the wheelchair. Here he goes again.

WWWWWW

Truth be told, Wally just about had a heart attack when the whatever that was hit the glass behind him. That was what happened when he wasn't paying attention all the way. He hadn't even heard that (now identified as) ice go through the air until it was smashing into the wall next to him. Now, he obviously wasn't at his best. Paralyzed and trying to heal the gaping wound in his shoulder that was taking a ridiculously long time to heal. It must have had something to do with the fact that his molecules were literally rearranged. Apparently that means longer healing time. Who knew? Either way, he was more than a little woozy from blood loss and he hadn't really expected Killer Frost to shoot at him. Which was stupid, but who cares? He'd recognized the voice right away and the heartbeat first. She fought against Batman occasionally and then also Flash some so he knew the villain relatively well. Of course, this wasn't his Killer Frost. At least, he didn't think so. Who even knew at this point? He was asking himself a lot of rhetorical questions. He blamed it on the blood loss.

Apparently the lack of response was not pleasing to Killer Frost because he heard the sound of her clicking her way over to where he was, heels striking the ground viciously with each step. She gracefully pulled to a stop when she could see his face and something in her eyes (such a beautiful, cold blue) seemed to melt and the gathering ice storm in her hands faded away a little bit. Her voice was still as hard as ice as she smirked, "Zoom really got you, didn't he? I do hope he plans to keep you alive. It would be a shame to lose such a pretty little speedster."

Wally sighed and rested his head back against the glass cage he was in, responding genuinely, "It's a shame to lose such a talented, beautiful woman to the villain side too. You'd be an amazing hero."

Killer Frost's mouth twisted and she drawled, "I'm not a hero, Kid Flash and I never will be. Nor do I want to be. I like killing people and hurting them." Wally tried to keep up with the conversation, he really did, but he didn't feel the best at the moment and for some reason, ice villains liked to talk really slow.

So he just kind of ignored what she said and kept going, "I mean, you could do so many awesome things. Or you could be neither a hero nor a villain and just run an ice sculpture shop. Like, for weddings and stuff. That'd be pretty cool. You could probably have some wicked sculptures. And you could call the place, I don't know, Killer Ice Sculpting or something like that – I'm not good with coming up with names by the way. But if you wanted to be a hero, you could do stuff like make Christmas in July or something. Make it snow when it's not snowy outside." Oh yeah, he was definitely having issues with that blood loss. Eh, his powers would replace the blood soon enough. Hopefully. Not that there was much else he could do about it anyways.

Killer Frost's voice was cold with annoyance as she paced in front of the cage, "I don't know what Zoom sees in you. You are quite annoying actually. I doubt you are as good of a speedster as Zoom makes you out to be. I think he actually thought you were a threat. You can't even stand."

"Zoom did that to me!" Wally protested.

"You let him!" Killer Frost snarled back. And suddenly Wally could see what this was all about. Zoom had told Killer Frost about his plans to capture Wally before he did it. And she had been hoping that he would have been able to stand up to him. She wanted someone to take Zoom down as much as he did. Not necessarily because she hated Zoom, but because she hated something he was doing. She felt threatened staying here and someone taking Zoom out would have put a stop to that. But he hadn't been good enough. He'd failed her without even knowing it.

"I'm sorry." Wally responded quietly. It was the least he could do. It was the only thing he could do, really.

"About what?" Killer Frost snapped, eyes flashing and the room gaining a chilly quality to it that Wally did not appreciate.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to stop him. I won't ever stop thinking that you could be a hero, but I'll let you believe what you want. But maybe, for just a little bit, we can stop being hero and villain and we can just exist." Wally sighed out, desperately wanting her to say yes, not only to help her, but also because he hated being alone. In his opinion, that was the worst part about being kidnapped, the real reason why he annoyed his captors so much. He just wanted to not be alone.

Killer Frost's voice was more like powdery snow now and less like lethal hail, "And what, exactly, would we do?"

Wally's eyes lit up and he grinned, "You could make it snow! We could have a snowman building contest! I bet you've never done one before. It'll be super fun! Like Christmas in, uh, I don't currently remember what month it is."

Killer Frost rolled those pretty blue eyes, but ended up sighing and shrugging before pausing a glancing at Wally curiously, "How are you going to build a snowman without being able to walk?"

He just beamed at her, "I'm sure I'll manage." She gave him another curious look before, gloriously, the prison was filled with snowflakes. Wally laughed and immediately caught one on his tongue, eliciting an eye roll from his current guard before, at his expectant expression, she caught one on her own tongue, smirking at him as if to say 'I did it better than you'. Wally just stuck his tongue out at her.

They spent the rest of the evening with Killer Frost building her snowman (sorry, snow-women; she was very emphatic about that) and Wally doing his best to build his own without working legs and with only one arm since his other arm was healing slowly and he didn't want to mess that up. Killer Frost eventually rolled her eyes and started directing the snow to go however Wally wanted it, the two of them building the snowman together. Wally smiled at Killer Frost one more time before letting his eyes drift shut, the snow still falling around him. He could have sworn she smiled back at him, but he wasn't sure. All part of the speedster charm.

BBBBBB

Barry hadn't exactly been having the best time. Honestly, he was having a really awful time between trying to find Wally, trying to deal with a sulky billionaire, trying to bridge the silence between all of the dimensions (he didn't even want to think about when they'd told the Marvel universe that Wally was missing… again), and trying to keep his job as a forensic scientist. So it really wasn't that surprising that he'd been momentarily delighted when he'd looked out the window and realized that it was snowing. He'd always loved the snow, loving the purity of it and they way it seemed to blanket all of his problems for a little bit and give him the chance to just breathe in the beautiful air and be happy. Then he'd realized that this was not a month that it was supposed to be snowing in. Central City had never gotten snow this early in the year. Which meant there was a problem. It likely wasn't human. Which meant that Barry got to deal with it.

Groaning loudly (he loved his city and would do anything to protect it, but he just wanted a break right about now), he sped into the Cortex, watching with a little bit of amusement as everyone's face slowly morphed into surprise before beginning the change to resigned. And then he was out in the streets and was speaking into his comms device, "What's going on, guys? Why is it snowing?"

Roy's droll voice responded, "Isn't that when it rains when it's really cold? I thought Central City had gotten snow before."

Ronnie spoke a second later, "Yeah, we've gotten snow before, but never this early. This is definitely some sort of metahuman. Do you want us out there, Barry?" Dr. Stein made a sound of agreement, obviously ready to start the fight too.

Barry spoke quickly, "Not yet, guys, thanks though. I'll let you know if I need you. This might not be anything important. It might just be some meta who wanted it to snow early. Or… it might actually be a problem."

Caitlin's voice sounded out in his ear, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Barry pressed a hand to his comm, "We have a problem. Mark Mardon is back." He stopped and stared at the sky with growing apprehension as Mardon raised his hands in the air and called for snow to blanket the city. Even as he was watching, the snow grew stronger and thicker and the wind picked up. He was creating a blizzard that was going to coat the city. No one would be able to stop him if he wanted to take something. No police would get there fast enough and even Barry might not be fast enough. The cold always slowed him down a little bit and with all this snow, there was practically no way he'd be able to find Mardon.

Caitlin's voice was worried, "And he's the one causing all the snow? Distract him while I get Cisco. He might know what to do."

And so Barry raced into battle, slamming into Mardon's side before rolling out of the way as a blast of lightning melted the snow he'd just been laying on. He and Mardon tussled with each other, Mardon trying to run and Barry trying to dodge whatever force of nature hit him. He had just been thrown back into a building by a blast of wind summoned by the former bank thief when Cisco's voice came onto the comms, sounding tired, but alert, "Weather Wizard is there?"

"Not anymore." Barry sighed, "I lost him. He ran off while I was trying to get out of this snow drift."

"Oh! Idea! Most weather phenomena are marked – no pun intended – by a change in electric charge and pressure in the atmosphere. We could just map out those fluctuations to-,"

Barry finished the statement for him, "To pinpoint his location." He was getting some serious déjà vu here.

"Right," Cisco continued, "It would just be a matter of removing all the electricity-,"

Barry finished the last word with him and continued the statement, "Electricity from his immediate surroundings."

Cisco made a sound of agreement and said, "Attracting it to-,"

Together they said, "One spot."

Cisco kept going, his voice upbeat, "The same way a lightning rod does, only instead of a lightning rod, we could use a-,"

Barry finished the last statement for him, "A wand?"

There was silence for a moment before Cisco asked, his voice cracking a little bit, "Have we already had this conversation? Because I don't remember having this conversation and if we haven't had this conversation then you are doing some weird voodoo stuff that I do not appreciate."

"Kind of." Barry answered honestly. He remembered this conversation now. He remembered when he last had it. Or, didn't have it. He kept going since the silence had continued for a little bit longer, "Uh, alright, so the last time Mardon attacked, he, um, generated a tidal wave that destroyed all of Central City. Cisco created the weather wand and it worked."

Oliver's voice was as gruff as always as he growled, "So why are you not all sleeping with the fishes?"

Barry cleared his throat and shrugged a little to himself before answering, "So, I ran back through time, but one day, into the past, and I got a do-over and I stopped Mardon before he could hurt anyone."

"You ran back in time?" Roy's voice sounded kind of awed.

Oliver's did not, "Is this a common occurrence? How many times have you done this, Barry?"

"Look, guys, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Cisco built the weather wand and tracked Mardon down last time, so he can do it again… for the… first time." Barry said. That was confusing to him even and he was the only one who'd actually experienced that other time line and still had memories of it. Well, other than Cisco remembering dying in that timeline. Which, really, no one wanted to remember.

Cisco spoke up, "Okay then. I'll… get on that. For the first time. This is so weird. Caitlin can start to track Weather Wizard and see if she can find him."

Ronnie's voice came up next, "I'll help you if you want."

"Sure thing bro." Cisco responded and then the sounds of his friends cut out and he was left alone in the snow, scorch marks on the streets the only real sign of the battle that had just taken place. But then, suddenly, there was something aimed at him, flying towards him, and time automatically slowed down. Barry blinked at the relatively normal sized white ball heading towards him at slow speeds. Carefully walking closer, noticing the normal lightning out of the corner of his eye, Barry stopped about a foot away from the ball and noticed that it was actually a snowball. Someone had just thrown a snowball at him. Blinking beneath his cowl in surprise, Barry turned his attention to area the snowball came from. And there, in the middle of a war scream, was a little band of kids who must have belonged to that little orphanage behind them, their several sizes too big and several years too old clothing showing just how dilapidated that orphanage really was.

Grinning impishly, Barry grabbed the snowball and jogged over to where the kids were standing, ending up behind them and throwing the snowball up and down in his hand as the world sped back up, "Did you little kids throw this?"

Screaming in delight, one of the younger ones – a little girl probably around five with beautiful blonde curls and a chubby little button nose with hazel eyes that sparkled in a tan face – gathered up another snowball and threw it at him. Putting on a face of shock, he let the snowball hit him and stumbled back as if in shock, stating dramatically, "You've hit me! You've actually hit me! You must be pretty fast to do that, sweetie. How about this? You and me take on all of these other kids. We can make a pretty good team. Or do you think they can still beat us with the amount they have on their team?" Other than the little girl, there was about twelve other kids ranging from three to sixteen.

The girl shook her head, corkscrew curls bobbing wildly, "Nuh-uh! Mrs. Millie says that it's not fair unless each team has the exact same amount of par-tic-i-pants. We gotta split up like in half!" Grinning to himself, Barry let the kids split themselves into teams.

When all was said and done, they had split themselves pretty evenly when it came to gender and age. It was kind of sweet actually. An older boy with coal black hair and a ruddy complexion stared at him seriously, "Can you throw, sir?"

A little boy, probably around seven pouted at the older kid, "Of course he can throw, silly! He's the Flash! He can do anything!"

An older girl from the other team who must have heard the little boy yelling, popped her head out of their shelter (the two teams had decided on ten minutes to build a shelter and create a game plan before the battle really began; Barry thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen) and yelled across the yard, "No powers! That's cheating!"

The coal haired boy shouted back, "Alright! We got it!" Then he nodded to Flash as if to make sure that he really got it. Barry smiled indulgently and nodded back. The coal haired boy smiled and then started to lay out a game plan, "Alright, my dad was in the army, so I know all sorts of battle plans. Stick with me and I'll make sure we win."

It was an hour later when Cisco called in saying that the weather wand was ready and Caitlin had found the criminal. Barry had been in the kitchen of the Central City orphanage, coloring with some of the little girls and sipping some hot chocolate that was graciously offered to him. Saying goodbye to the kids, Barry sped off to go take down the weather villain. He was definitely coming back there. And he was going to do everything in his power – in and out of the suit – to make sure that those kids got a better orphanage and that people started to donate more and care more about this orphanage. And he was definitely going to spend every Christmas with them if it was that much fun. Smiling to himself, Barry figured that everything was going to work out alright. The snow really did make everything better.


	13. Chapter 13

PPPPPP

Peter will admit to having had a minor freak out earlier. Okay, minor was an understatement. Earth-1 and DC had told them that Wally had been kidnapped again and they had no idea where he was and that Marvel shouldn't worry because Earth-1 was on it and they would find him in no time. Then Matt had freaked out on them. Peter had always been a little terrified of the devil of Hell's Kitchen, but that was always based on the rumors about him that filtered out via citizens and criminals. Then he had met the man with Kid Flash in tow and he hadn't really seemed all that scary, but Peter never saw him on patrol. He was very adamant with the whole no other heroes allowed in my city thing and Peter had never found a reason to intrude. And the fear kind of faded away. Kid Flash was an amazing influence on the grumpy hero and Matt became more of that weird almost-kind-of-related-but-hates-going-to-family-gatherings-so-you-never-see-him-unless-his-kind-of-almost-not-really-son-forces-him-to-go uncle to Peter and Johnny. So when he went all devil of Hell's Kitchen on the other dimensions, Peter had been terrified because, quite frankly, the rumors were not exaggerated. At all. Peter actually thinks that they might have been underexaggerated. Matt growled at DC and Earth-1 and hissed and threatened them before stalking off and that compounded with the fact that Wally was missing was all too much for Peter and he had swung off moments later, flipping up to the rafters before crawling out of the room via ceiling.

Johnny, amazing friend as he was, noticed Peter's silent retreat and came after him. He found Peter a couple minutes later and there was this awful expression on his face. He was trying so hard to hide how upset he was just so he could comfort Peter and that broke Spiderman's heart and he just kind of broke down. And then Johnny broke down and they just sat there mourning their lives for a little bit. They were teenaged heroes who were mocked by the people they saved, hurt by the villains they fought, and left out by the people they fought with. No one took them seriously because they were just kids when they fought and hurt and felt just as much as the older heroes. They took it seriously and no one seemed to understand that and it was hard. And now one of their best friends was kidnapped again and paralyzed and still stuck in a dimension that wasn't his and there wasn't anything they could do about it and that hurt. It hurt them more than it hurt everyone else, but no one seemed to realize that and maybe that made it even worse. No one could see them hurting because they worked so hard to hide their weaknesses. They did it for different reasons: Wally hid his weaknesses because he was trained to and the paranoia was etched deep, Johnny hid his weaknesses so his team would take him seriously and not boot him off where he couldn't protect them, and Peter hid his weaknesses so no one thought to protect him because they'd only get hurt.

But then Sue was there and she was bundling the two of them in her arms and then there was this rubbery thing wrapped around the three of them that could only be Reed's arm and then there was a hard, but gentle hand placed on their heads that could only be Ben. Peter realized that maybe he wasn't as alone as he'd thought. Maybe there were other people who were willing to look past the mask not to hurt him, but to help him. And that warmed Peter's heart in a way that nothing else could.

It also strengthened his resolve. People were making him feel this way, but there was no one out there comforting Wally right now and goodness knows he needed comfort more than most. So Peter was going to help him. He was going to do everything in his power to save that speedster. Just because he was in a different dimension didn't mean that there was nothing he could do. He was Peter Parker, science nerd and intern at Stark Industries. He was Spiderman, solo teen vigilante who's faced off against world-ending threats with other supers at his side. He could do this. He would do this. And he didn't have to do it alone.

So, disentangling himself from the pile of Fantastic Four he was being lovingly smothered in, Peter headed back towards the dimension room. He had an idea, but it was going to take a lot of convincing to get people to go along with it. Or maybe he didn't have to tell anyone but the people involved. He was sure the two of them would be willing to help him…

WWWWWW

Wally leaned back against a different glass wall than before. He really didn't want to lie in that pool of old blood again and quite frankly, he didn't have the energy to move back over there anyways. He'd just finished with another little session with Zoom. The man kept coming back in there just to gloat at him and Wally wasn't having it. He would talk back and snark back and do his overall best just to annoy the living daylights out of his captor and, sadly, his captor did not appreciate it. Sometimes he had to deal with Killer Frost snarling at him afterwards, saying that he should behave and stop ticking Zoom off. Occasionally her boyfriend would join in and Wally would inevitably snap something back at them that he'd regret later, but he was normally really hurt and just generally done with villains and then they'd go and yell at him for getting beat up and he really had no control over what he said.

This time, however, it had been just Zoom there to beat him up and yell at him, so not that the mad speedster was done with him, he was blissfully alone. He could just lean against this wall and let his wounds heal in peace. They weren't that bad this time. There was his continued lack of leg use and then there was a bloody gash in the back of his head where he'd hit the wall a bit too hard. His jaw was broken (not that that had stopped him from continuing to talk and annoy Zoom) and his neck was quickly going through the stages of bruising where Zoom had strangled him (also in an attempt to get him to stop talking). Other than that, the only really bad injury was the hole in his side where Zoom had vibrated his hand through. Honestly, that was getting really annoying. There was going to be a point where Zoom killed him just by blood loss alone. Sure, Wally was pretty good at patching himself up and he was given enough food to keep his healing going well and his body was certainly cycling through the blood fast enough.

Sighing, Wally decided that it really didn't matter. All that mattered right now was that he was alone and there was wonderful, pure, beautiful silence.

"Wally!"

Growling, Wally glared up at wherever the noise was coming from. At least, the plan was to glare before he realized that he recognized that voice. Throat still a little raw from Zoom's little session earlier, Wally croaked, "Spidey?"

And there, lo and behold, was Spiderman, mask on and still looking delighted. He was a little distorted of course, due to that fact that he was apparently still in the other dimension. This was some sort of dimensional screen, but without the clarity held by the dimensional screen in the basement of STAR labs on Earth-1. Too many Earths. Peter grinned at Wally and said back, "Yeah, man! We finally found you! Earth-1 is doing their best to find you, but last time I checked they thought you were still on their Earth. I didn't think it was going to be that easy because I thought, why would Zoom snatch you when he could have gotten the Flash who was better known on that Earth and likely a better target? The answer was obvious: he wasn't doing it simply because he wanted to. He was doing it because someone asked him to. And I thought, who would want Wally that bad? Once again, the answer was obvious: Vandal Savage. And he seems to like alternate dimensions so I figured that you would not be where everyone else thought you would be, but I didn't have a way to prove it nor did the others have a way to find you anyways. The only reason we found you in Earth-1 is because of that whole black hole thing. There wasn't any black hole this time, so I had to go to alternate methods."

"What did you do?" Wally asked, half way between curious and apprehensive.

"Nothing bad!" Spiderman promised, hands in the air as if claiming not guilty, "I just went where no one else would think to go. Because I'm awesome. Let's just say that Loki is pretty good at dimensional stuff."

"Loki?" Wally questioned curiously.

"A moderately irritated Loki if we choose to be more specific." Loki's voice curled into the room as the dimensional screen shifted to put Peter, Loki, and Thor all in the picture. It seemed like Loki was still in the prison they'd made for him as he lounged on the hard prison bed, making it seem more like a chaise seat than a bed designed so it couldn't be used as a weapon.

Feeling a smile split across his face, Wally asked, "And why is Loki moderately irritated?"

Loki sniffed disdainfully and announced, "I had thought that my actions in freeing you would have made it so you listened to me at least a little bit. I believe I told you at some point that I did not wish to see you hurt as it would make you much more boring. And yet, here you are, stuck in yet another universe and injured. Can you do nothing correctly?"

Now outright grinning, Wally answered gleefully, "I'm fairly certain you never said that. I think you said something more along the lines of 'I grew attached to you when I kidnapped you and now I care for you like a little brother and I can't bear to see you hurt. I only hope you get home soon.' That sounds a little bit more like what you said."

"I hardly said something so foolish and childish. You matter naught to me other than a source of amusement and that is the only thing I have expressed to you, insolent child." Loki threw back, looking distinctly disgruntled.

Wally turned to Peter, "He likes me."

Peter was about to respond, but Thor's booming voice cut into the conversation, "I believe he does indeed like you, young warrior! I thank you for endeavoring to change my brother's errant ways and for giving him something to love as I so dearly love him."

The grin on Thor's face could only be described as downright joyful puppy cute and Wally couldn't help but grin back at him and chirp, "No problem!"

Loki growled at them, "That is of no importance. Who harmed you? Was it that other user of the Speed Force that I have been informed of?"

The grin slid off Wally's face as quickly as it came and he just nodded, folding into himself a little bit. He didn't want to talk about this. He wanted that happy go lucky conversation they were having earlier. Peter stepped back into the conversation, "Where are you hurt? Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine, Spiderman. I've just got some bruising around my neck, ribs, and face and then my jaw was broken, but it's healing pretty well. I've got that wound in my side, but that'll be fine. I've wrapped it up well enough for it to heal before I bleed out or something. And then I'm obviously still paralyzed."

Loki's voice was cold with anger and something else that Wally couldn't identify as he said, "Still paralyzed? Since when, exactly, have you been paralyzed? And why was I not informed of this before I went searching through the dimensions to try to find you?"

Thor gave Wally a scandalized look and Wally winced, "Oops. I thought they'd already told you. I've been paralyzed for only a week or so. It's not permanent. It'll heal eventually. It's just that Zoom keeps throwing me around and it's jarring my back a little bit and making it so that any healing that I'm doing it going out the window. It's kind of annoying, but it's fine."

"It is fine?" Loki repeated incredulously, "Do you have no regard for your own safety? Is there nothing someone could do to you that would make you stop acting like nothing bothers you? You continuously sling out insults and rude comments throughout your times as a prisoner and all it does is irritate your captors and cause them to hurt you more and you seem not to care. How can you do that? How can you let them, no make them hurt you? Why would you do that? Why do you bring them back time and time again simply so they hurt you?"

"Because I hate being alone!" Wally snapped. As if a dam had broken, Wally kept going, "Because I can't stand being alone. When I was kidnapped as a hero for the first time, he left me alone all the time. No matter what I said or did, there were always just long pockets of time where he just left me there, alone, with no one else and nothing to do, chained and bleeding in that room with so little sounds and I hated it. The only times he came back were to beat me and occasionally feed me. I was there for a week, but do you know how long a week feels like to a speedster? It feels a lot longer. I felt like I was in there for a month, maybe more. Imagine a month, alone. Only tiny, little hour long moments where he comes back and hurts me. That was the first time, but it certainly wasn't the last. And in those other times when I was kidnapped, I talked back and I made fun of the people who caught me because then they wouldn't leave me alone like he did. I wouldn't have to be stuck in that horrible, horrible void where there is nothing but me, forever. That's why I do it."

There was silence for a moment and Wally just kept his eyes closed, unwilling to see their faces at the moment. Then Peter's voice broke through, "That was Joker, wasn't it? The first time you were seriously kidnapped as, uh, Swift I think."

"Yeah." Wally said, a sigh in his voice. He kept going, "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I just… I haven't been having the best time recently if you can't tell."

"We can certainly tell." Loki commented, voice soft. It was obvious he wasn't going to outright say sorry, but his tone said what he words wouldn't, "Anyways, now that we've found you, we can inform the others where you are. Spiderman insisted on naming the Earth you are on currently Earth-2 since he obviously has no creative talent."

"Hey! I have creative talent! I just felt that it wasn't necessary to reveal such awesomeness at this particular time." Peter defended. Wally felt himself smile. He had good friends. Peter and Thor waved before walking off, probably towards wherever on the helicarrier the Marvel people were holed up.

Loki sighed and said, "I guess you may entertain me while we await the return of those so-called heroes. I am sure they will be interested in conversing with you once they realize you have been found and I am forced to stay with you until then."

Wally grinned and was about to launch into a story about his Rogues, but then there was this sort of shifting in the air directly next to the dimensional screen. Wally paused and sat up straighter, trying to get a better look at whatever may be behind that little air mirage. Then, suddenly, Cisco's voice was calling out to him, "Wally? Can you hear me?"

"Cisco!" Wally cried out. He really did have good friends. The fact that both the Marvel and Earth-1 people found him was mind blowing.

Loki crinkled his nose in distaste and said, "What manner of name is Cisco? What sort of creature are you?"

"Uh, what?" Cisco asked, obviously confused."

"You heard me, mortal. Now answer my questions." Loki demanded. Wally secretly thought that he just enjoyed having someone to terrorize who didn't know that he was in jail and couldn't actually do anything to him.

Cisco answered hesitantly, as if he might answer wrong, "Cisco is a Spanish name and I'm a metahuman. Like Wally. Who are you exactly… O immortal one?"

"I am Loki, the rightful king of Asgard." Loki announced smugly.

"I'm not entirely certain what Asgard is, but isn't Loki the name of that norse god of tricks?" Cisco asked.

"Yes, for I am the god that such legends were created from, mortal. Be awed by my presence." Loki threw back. Wally could imagine the look that Cisco was giving Loki.

Wally inserted himself back into the conversation, "Why can't I see you Cisco? I can only hear you and… I guess… sense you? I don't know. It's weird. How are you doing this?"

"I'm not really sure. I just kind of… vibed you, I guess? There was this woman and she shot ice at you and vision disappeared, but I knew then that I could find you, so I pushed myself and pushed myself until I finally managed to vibe you again. You couldn't hear me last time, so I'm not sure why you can hear me now." Cisco answered honestly.

"It is because of my presence and the dimensional hole I have transformed into a dimensional screen directly next to where you… vibe from." Loki answered in a bored tone. Apparently Cisco hadn't lived up to his expectations.

"Okay. That makes more sense. So, do you know where you are? So we can mount a rescue team?" Cisco asked.

"I don't know," Wally admitted, "The others told me that I am on another Earth which they're calling Earth-2, but beyond that I don't know. I'm in some sort of cave. I didn't wake up until I was already here. Sorry…"

Cisco was quick to say, "There's no need to apologize! You already gave us something to base our search off of. I'm going to contact the others and see if I can bring one of them with me in this weird vibe thing. Is there a chance that we'll run into Zoom?"

"Probably not," Wally answered, "He had left just a couple of minutes before Loki popped up and that wasn't that long ago either, so he shouldn't be back for a long time."

"Okay, cool. See you in a bit." Cisco said before the weird shimmery spot where he'd been disappeared.

Loki sniffed disdainfully again and said, "You keep such annoying company. Sometimes I wonder if you are interesting enough for me to put up with your sniveling friends."

"Wow, put a little bit more disdain into the word friends there. Besides, you're my friend." Wally grinned. He ended up laughing because the affronted look Loki gave him was probably the funniest thing he'd seen all day.

CCCCCC

Cisco threw himself down the hallways and around corners and even through a few staircases, running as fast as he could towards the Cortex where his friends were all conducting their research while trying to avoid the dimensional screen room as well as they could because it was rather tense down there at the moment. While he ran, he thought about what he could tell them. Was he going to tell them the truth? Of course he was. How could he even explain it otherwise? He was a metahuman and he had to face that. It couldn't be that hard. They had Barry on the team and he was a metahuman and they had Ronnie and Dr. Stein on the team and they were metahumans. So no one had problems with metahumans. Why was it then that he was so freaked out about telling them that he was one? Was he ashamed of being a metahuman? Did he secretly hate them? No. No, that was ridiculous. He definitely didn't hate metahumans. He thought they were awesome. Sure, some of them sucked, but that was because they were evil. So if he didn't secretly hate metahumans, then why was the idea of telling his friends so terrifying?

Shaking the thought off as he skidded to a stop in the Cortex, Cisco bent over and tried to catch his breath. He had glimpsed a lot of curious and bemused expressions as he went down, puffing to try to get air (one of the many moments where he envied Barry for his super speed). But when he stood up again, their faces were curious and bemused. They were startled and angry and defensive. He raised his hands and said, "Whoa, I don't know what I did to deserve the war faces, but I think we can all calm down a little bit."

"It's not you." Caitlin said, inching to Cisco and yanking him back with her as soon as she was close enough.

Finally turned around, Cisco faced the open front of the Cortex and his breath caught in his throat as a vaguely familiar man stood in front of him. It only took a second before the image locked in and Cisco's breath caught in his throat a second time. That was… that man looked exactly like… he couldn't even think it.

Before anyone could say a word, the man, wearing blue pants and a red shirt with a yellow lightning bolt in the center and a metal hat with wings on either side, said, "I'm the Flash from Earth-2, Jay Garrick, and I'm here to help you."


	14. Chapter 14

CCCCCC

Caitlin was trying not to give off any obvious reaction to the situation she found herself in. As the doctor and one of the scientists of the group, she needed to stay calm and approach the situation from a distance. This… Jay Garrick claimed to be from another dimension. He said that he saw the dimensional whole open on his world and had gone to investigate it when Zoom had confronted him. According to Mr. Garrick, Zoom took away his speed and sent him through the dimensional hole so the evil speedster could terrorize Earth-2. He claimed to have been wandering around Earth-1 to figure out where he was and what exactly happened before he determined that he was going to find out who this Earth's Flash was and ask him for help. And that led to the present situation. Caitlin was running as many tests as she could think of on this self-proclaimed inter-dimensional traveler (which, quite frankly, they had too many of in the first place). Barry was patrolling in an attempt to clear his head, or maybe he had gone to visit his father. Either one was a viable option based on the situation at hand.

So, she had a lot to think about. But there was more. After Mr. Garrick's little speech about wanting to help them defeat Zoom and get back to his home world, Cisco had told them what he'd been so interested in informing them of earlier. He was a metahuman. He could… vibe things. He found Wally… on Earth-2… the place Jay Garrick claimed to be from... the place Zoom is supposed to be from. According to Cisco, the people from Marvel found Wally first and he said that there was a dimensional screen opened in there that affected his powers and allowed him to be able to converse with Wally. Oliver had then convinced Cisco that the emerald archer was the best person to bring with him in his next vibe because he would be able to case the place better and find ways for Wally to escape. Only when Barry made it obvious that he wasn't really in the right state of mind to be helpful in Wally's escape did Cisco agree. Ronnie and Stein were down in the dimensional screen room giving all the information on the situation to the other dimensions. Roy was on a food run because throughout all the stress in the days following the black hole, people were forgetting to get their own food. Iris and Joe were at their respective jobs, trying their best to not focus on what was going on in the STAR labs at Central City, but it couldn't be easy. Everyone just wanted Wally to get home.

Caitlin was startled back into awareness when Jay Garrick's voice sounded out from the other room, "I still don't understand why you can't just believe me. What evidence do you have that I'm untrustworthy?"

Going back into the room where the subject of her tests was waiting on a hospital bed, Caitlin checked some of the charts and machines in the room and responded, "The same evidence we have that you are trustworthy – none. We haven't had the best track record with trusting people and we just want to be safe."

"I understand that, I really do, but if we don't move fast, Zoom is going to destroy everything. He is a monster and he has your friend. Moving now, while we still have the element of surprise, is our only option." He was so earnest that Caitlin could feel herself being moved to believe him, but she wouldn't let herself. Wells was just as earnest. So was General Eiling back when he wanted results with Gorilla Grodd. And look how those ended up. She would not let herself get pulled into someone's story just to be hurt again or have her friends hurt again. If Wally hadn't shown up and helped Barry destroy that black hole, there was a good chance that Ronnie and Stein would have gone up there and not come back. She couldn't imagine that – a world without her husband. Well, she could imagine it, having lived it for a while, but now, now she would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening again. And here, helping out heroes at STAR labs, she had a lot of power.

So, the only response she gave the man was a simple, "We'll see." And with that, she was out of the room. He was chained to the hospital bed and Roy would be coming back soon, so there wasn't any reason for her to stay and watch him. She was going to go see how Ronnie and Stein were doing down in the dimensional screen room. They might want some extra hands and if not, it was always wonderful to see her husband work.

OOOOOO

When Cisco had said that he'd talked to Wally, Oliver had been undeniably relieved. He knew from past experience that there was strong chance that Wally wouldn't be alive when they found him, but now that chance was lessened. It had still hurt him to hear about Wally's injuries, but he could deal with that. There was a clear cut way to find him now and all he needed to do was take in the surroundings. If that man, Jay Garrick, was telling the truth, then there was a good chance that he would be able to identify the place from Oliver's memory of the prison. If not, the DC scientists had said that there was a good chance that Earth-1 and Earth-2 are, physically, the same and someone from Earth-1 might recognize the place and be able to lead them to it on Earth-2. He might even recognize it. There was a lot of ifs in there, but all this time in Central was giving him a little bit of that speedster optimism that he'd always admired about Barry. And there were certainly plenty of speedsters to go around. First there was, of course, Barry and then Wally showed up and then B and another little speedster called Impulse were in the dimensional screen and then this Jay Garrick figure who was apparently a former speedster who wanted his speed back so he could help Barry defeat Zoom. That was a lot of speedster for one simple archer.

Voice determined, Cisco called out, "You ready, Oliver?"

"Yes." Oliver answered firmly. He wanted to ask what it felt like and if it would have any adverse affects and if he was in danger from the things in the vision and if it would actually bring him along, but he knew that Cisco probably knew about as much about his powers as Oliver did and he could also tell that Cisco was terrified of these powers and the idea of sharing them with his friends, so he would keep any questions and doubts to himself so Cisco would be able to focus better on what he was doing and not doubt himself. Oliver knew how important it was to have confidence in your abilities. Even though he was struggling to keep up in this world of powers and impossible things that the others treated as everyday occurrences (which they probably were), he found that he could relate to the underlying problems. If he pushed all of the nigh magical stuff to the back of his mind and focused instead on what these people were feeling, he could find the actual problem and solve it. There were plenty of scientists versed in superpowers to deal with all the impossible stuff.

All thoughts were swept from his mind when the world shifted around him. It was unlike anything Oliver had ever felt before and his heart stuttered in his chest before starting again. He blinked owlishly at his surroundings. The first thing that came into focus was a small figure a little distance away. His bright red hair and shirt drew the eye's attention because, despite being matted with blood and dirt, he was still the brightest thing in the room. Blinking again to get rid of the remaining fog from the… vibing, Oliver realized that it was the vision itself that was foggy, not just him.

"Cisco?" Wally's voice called out, sounding more tired, but less guarded than Oliver had ever heard it before.

Cisco smiled next to Oliver and called back, "Yeah man, it's me. You doing okay? How about you, O mighty Loki?"

Wally nodded in response as another voice came from almost directly next to Oliver, "Finally, someone who treats me with the respect I am due. You could learn from him, brat."

"Thanks Loki. I love being called brat when I'm injured and stuck in a madman's prison cell." Wally threw back dryly.

Turning slightly, Oliver saw another man with pale skin and long, ebony black hair lounging next to him. The man and his surroundings were slightly fuzzy and obviously not a part of the room they were standing in. Oliver surmised that this was the person who had opened a dimensional screen in the prison. Ignoring that for the time being, Oliver focused on the rest of the room. He kept glancing around and taking in even the smallest details, determined to remember the exact layout of the room. He heard the others talking idly while he memorized, but he didn't really pay attention until Wally's voice took on a worried tint, "You guys need to go."

"What? Why?" Cisco asked, alarmed.

"Zoom is coming back. I can hear him. He's coming back and you need to go otherwise you lose the element of surprise. He'll know and that'll be dangerous for you guys. He's coming in fast. You need to leave now." Wally threw out, sending panicked looks behind them before turning to them with a pleading expression.

Just like that, Loki's dimensional screen disappeared with a pop and, with one last concerned look at Wally, Cisco was pulling them out of the vibe and back into his workroom in STAR labs in Central City on Earth-1. Shocked from the quick pull out, Oliver stumbled a little bit before righting himself against one of the desks in the room. Shaking his head, he dismissed any lingering fuzziness and stood up. Clearing his throat slightly, he said, "That was… not entirely pleasant."

"Tell me about it." Cisco snorted, also working to right himself. The scientist shook his head and straightened, "Do you think you have enough of the room memorized to find the place?" Oliver nodded and Cisco continued, "Alright, you go let the people in the dimensional room know about what you find. If Caitlin is down there, ask her to come to the Cortex please. I'm going to see what the test results were with the new guy and see if Barry is back yet. We'll get Wally out of this yet."

It was only when Cisco had left and he was on his way to the dimensional screen room that he started trying to think of the room in different ways. There probably wasn't anything like the prison in the cave on this Earth. Zoom would want it to be accessible to himself only. If anyone else was allowed in, it would have to be close followers. His followers would have to be powerful and Cisco had mentioned the woman with the power of ice. What could the woman with ice powers and the man with super speed both do that would make it so they can get into a place that no one else could? Oliver didn't know their intelligence levels, so there was no way of knowing what kind of security measures they had in place. Maybe that didn't matter. Maybe they didn't need security measures. It was a cave, but Zoom would only want one exit. From all the data compiled about him, he was too proud to run away and enjoyed the hunt too much to give his victims more than one exit. That would mean that the cave was probably facing out of a cliff and only went a little ways in. It didn't have another opening. Okay, so, based on his habits that made sense. It narrowed the search down a little bit. A cave with only the entrance as an opening. So, what made it hard to get into? Was it isolated? No, he was too careful to trust that people wouldn't stumble upon it. But perhaps he wanted people to stumble upon it? He certainly seemed to enjoy causing pain.

So… isolated or not could go either way. He wasn't sure. Maybe it didn't matter. A trickle of a memory started to form and Oliver chased it, trying to find its source. He'd seen that kind of rock before. Where? Had he seen that cave? Or just one similar to it? Think, Oliver, think! A woman with ice powers and a man with super speed. What can they do when it comes to a cave with only one opening that others can't? What if it was high up in the cliffs, so high that no one could get in to explore it, surrounded by flat rock? If it was virtually impossible to get in? But a speedster could. They can run up flat surfaces. The ice woman could easily create a ladder or a bridge of some sort. And Zoom was proud. He'd keep Wally close to Central City even if it was on another dimension, just to spite Wally's friends. And Oliver remembered a cave that fit that description perfectly. He remembered the color of the rock and how it matched the rock in the cave Wally currently sat in, alone with Zoom. He knew where Wally was.

DDDDDD

Dick waited by the transporters for news. He wasn't sure that he could stand there in that room and stare at the empty space where Wally had sat and done research in his wheelchair. Wally was kidnapped and those people from Earth-1, however unintentionally, however unpreventably, had allowed him to be kidnapped. With his leg propped up against the wall and his head leaned back, Dick thought over the situation they were in. There was too much going on. There were too many dimensions and too many problems and too many people and things just weren't going right and Dick felt a little bit like he was dying. He kept getting so close to having his brother back and then he was gone, disappeared into some place or another whether it be a different dimension or some evil person's layer. Or, in this case, both.

The hand that fell suddenly on his shoulder startled Dick, not that he'd admit that to anyone. One of the most important things that a Bat in training learned was to hide what you were feeling. That includes being startled or scared or shocked. If people thought you were immune to that, they were less likely to try it. Or they would try it more and you actually would become immune to it. Glancing to his side out of the corner of his eyes, Dick saw that it was Kaldur who had comfortingly rested his hand on Dick's shoulder. Nodding at the leader of the Young Justice League, Dick felt a smile tug at his lips. The rest of the original team were all standing in the transporter room, waiting for Jay Garrick to arrive.

Conner and Megan were in each other's arms, but still battle ready – a hazard of the job. Megan had let her hair grow back a little bit since Wally had left and now it was nearing the length that she'd had it when they'd started the team. Artemis was back in her Artemis get up, having abandoned her Tigress suit when she realized that Wally was still alive and there was a chance that he was coming home. The five of them and Wally had been the ones who really got the Team going. Sure, it was Wally, Dick, and Kaldur who made the first move when they decided to team up against their mentor's orders.

At that point in their life (at any point, really), Dick would have done anything for Wally and helping him save those Superboy an take down that Cadmus facility was worth every bit of trouble they got in. He figured that Kaldur felt the same. Dick knew that the two other heroes had gone on missions together before and he'd even helped with a few. It was inevitable that the partners to Justice League members would all eventually meet some way or another. Conner would give up the world for Wally. He always said that Wally promised him the moon and Superman and delivered both right away and that he was indebted to the ginger speedster for giving him that. Wally had always protested that it was a team effort and that he was really just trying to stop Conner from, like, killing them or something, but Conner continued to say that Wally had provided him with that and that he would do everything to make it up to him. Megan loved Wally for his overwhelming joy and his willingness to try anything and everything and his easygoing nature and his love for helping people who weren't quite used to earth get used to it. She wanted Wally to feel all the same joy he'd provided her with. Artemis loved Wally with everything she had. She loved everything about him and was willing to spend the rest of her life with him as evidenced by the ring she wore proudly. Dick just hoped he was the best man.

They all stood there, the founding members of a team just as important and just as powerful as the Justice League. They've faced so many problems and so many terrors and so many bad things, but they always, always got out of it. They made mistakes and screwed up royally and got hurt, but they always had each other to lean on. They had to struggle through the formation of a superhero team with the added problems of a group of hormonal teens struggling to find their place in the world, but they made it. Together. And a big part of that was Wally. He was always their glue and their joy and their galvanizing force. And that was kind of amazing. But this time, this time he was gone and they needed to save him. It wasn't the first time they'd needed to go rescue him after he pulled a stunt that got him captured or something as he was trying to save them and it probably wouldn't be the last. That was just the way he was. That was just the way they all were. They were heroes who only wanted to save and they worked perfectly together.

Sure there were road bumps and problems along the way (Artemis and Wally's initial issues with each other, Dick's unwillingness to give them his identity, the struggles to find the true leader of the group, Conner and Megan's break up, so many more problems that lead to more problems that led to splits in the group), but they worked past that and they trusted each other and they were always there for each other. They just needed their final member back. All they needed was Wally there to complete their group, their original group that impressed the Justice League and scared the enemy and lived as a legend in the eyes of newer members.

Artemis was the first to speak, "He's coming home." There was such conviction, such belief, such hope from someone who had once been so hopeless in her voice that Dick just had to believe her. If she said it like that then it had to be true.

Conner spoke next, "Obviously. He can do anything." And he said it with such bluntness, such simplicity and unwavering faith that Dick couldn't help but agree.

Megan said, "It's his optimism that makes it so he can do anything, not his powers. I'm positive he'll make it back with a smile still on his face." The way she said it – as if nothing else could be true made Dick smile.

Kaldur finished the conversation off with a simple, "And we'll all be there to welcome him." And that was what made the whole group smile, grins lighting up their faces and taking away the shadows that lingered there. Because they were a team, but more importantly, so much more importantly, they were friends. A family. And they would never ever leave their family behind.

The momentary happy silence was interrupted by the sound of lightly jogging feet before Nightwing came into view. Damian had his mask off and his eyes were shining with guarded hope as he stated, "Earth-1 says they know where Wally is."

BBBBBB

Barry was troubled. Everything was falling apart as he went. It just seemed to keep getting worse and worse and there wasn't a bright spot. Sighing dejectedly, Barry sat down on the chair in front of the glass, cradling the phone in his hand as he stared down on the table. A voice suddenly came over the phone, tone just the slightest bit joking, "Someone land a good shot, slugger?"

"Huh?" Barry replied, mind still having been a bit too caught up in his problems to even notice his father sitting down on the other side of the glass.

Henry Allen smiled and said, "You've got bags under your eyes. They almost look like someone landed a hit in a fight with you or something. What's up, kiddo? This isn't the usual visit, so what's going on that you thought you needed to talk to me about? Is it that kid, Wally?"

Sighing dejectedly, Barry said, "It's everything. Wally's gone. Someone bad took him and we can't find him and now Wally's friends are furious and blaming us for it, but it was hardly our fault. Oliver was just trying to make sure Wally wasn't going to hurt us or anything and then the man took Wally and everything is just falling apart. And, well, Cisco just told us that he's like me, if you know what I mean. Well, not exactly like me. I'm faster, but he's got a different thing and I think that he hates it. And then this guy, Jay Garrick, shows up and he looks exactly like, like… I can't even say it. He says he's from, not here, as in, a place like where Wally's from if you get what I'm trying to say and it just… he says he wants to help us, but I can't even tell anymore because people keep saying they want to help us, but then they don't and I don't know what to believe any more!" He was near tears at this point, frustrated with his life and frustrated with the fact that he couldn't even go into more detail because there were prison guards standing right there because his father was wrongly placed into jail and… and…

"Slugger." His father's voice brought Barry's attention back to the one he'd come to see, "I can't tell you what to do to make the situations better because I'm not there and I don't know these people, but I can tell you that you have to learn how to walk the line between not trusting enough and too trusting. You started off too far on the trusting side and after what Wells did to you, you went too far on the other side and neither of those things are going to help you. You need to find that happy middle that allows you to make decisions like this. It's hard and it's something that not a lot of people have mastered. Not a lot of people can master it, but I believe in you, Barry. I believe that you can solve this problem, that you can learn to trust when the moment is right. All you need right now is to be able to believe in yourself."

Barry could feel himself tear up as he truly comprehended just why he'd come to see his dad for advice. His feet had just taken him there and he'd known that he'd needed it, but he hadn't realized how much. And that was when the thought hit him. He knew how to find that line between too little trust and too much trust. The facts. The facts were where the truth lay and if he looked at the facts, he was likely to find out who to trust. And he knew of a fact that they'd all been missing out on. How stupid was he? How could he have possibly forgotten? Well, he knew why he'd forgotten; he'd been more than a little bit stressed at the time because a giant black hole had been opening over Central City, but still! Standing quickly, Barry, grabbed the phone and smiled at his dad, "Thank you! Thank you so much! I just figured something out. I've gotta run! I'll let you know how it all goes once it's done. Thank you! Love you dad!"

And then he was tapping his foot anxiously as he made his way through the customary checks and sign outs that accompanied a visitor's trip to prison. Finally free, Barry walked normal speed until he was out of sight of any potential eyewitnesses. He geared up to run super speed and then he was off. He had the proof he needed to show the others that Jay Garrick could be trusted.

CCCCCC

By the time Cisco had gotten to the Cortex, Roy was sprinting towards the dimensional screen room and Barry was about to take off with Jay Garrick in the same direction. Iris and Joe had just appeared in the doorway and were ready to follow Barry as well. Bemused, Cisco decided to follow everyone else since apparently they knew something he didn't.

Panting to a stop in the room, he was surprised to see that basically everyone was in the room. The dimensional screens were completely crowded with people, the DC side more colorful than Mardi Gras and the Marvel side busier than it had ever been. Once the new arrivals stopped in the doorway, each dimension took turns giving their information so everyone was caught up to speed. Spiderman spoke first, "Okay, so I had a, now that I think about it, spider sense of sorts that told me that Wally wasn't on Earth-1. At first, that didn't really help me much because we didn't really have a way to pinpoint what dimension he was in, but then I figured that there was someone who could. So I got Thor to bring me to Loki." Spiderman studiously ignored the growls from various people in various dimensions. Cisco wasn't quite sure what the big deal was. Sure, the 'god' was a jerk and obviously thought way too much of himself, but he hadn't seemed that bad. Looking at him through the screen now, though, Cisco realized that the man was wearing chains and had the general appearance of a prisoner. They'd even gone so far as to put a muzzle on him. He must have used some sort of charm or glamour or something earlier to make it seem like he was living life a lot posher than as a prisoner. No wonder they didn't like him that much. Spiderman kept going, "Loki was able to identify the dimension that Wally is in – I'm calling it Earth-2 since, according to Loki, it should be super similar to the Earth-1 dimension and he said it was close? In the dimensional, different vibrations, weird holes kind of way?" Spiderman this time studiously ignored the glare and eyeroll that Loki directed at him and continued, "Anyways, we talked to Wally there and Loki is able to open a dimensional hole from wherever he is to whatever existing hole he needs it to go to, but he said people can't be transported through them and his dimensional screens are a lot fuzzier than these ones. And smaller. That's the only reason he's walking around free, by the way. So he can open a hole."

Batman growled at the poor spider themed hero, "Then why isn't there a dimensional screen open right now showing Wally?"

Oliver answered that, his voice as cold and flat as the bat themed hero, "Wally told them to close the dimensional screen because Zoom was coming and he didn't want them to give away their edge. It was a secret that he felt shouldn't be given to the enemy yet. Perhaps you should wait until the person is done talking before you start accusing them."

Ollie threw back, "You're one to talk. Your mistrust of Wally, your unspoken accusations about him are the reason he's been kidnapped in the first place. If you would have just trusted him and let him, or someone, talk to you and explain the situation while you were in this room, Zoom wouldn't have taken Wally."

"I needed to make sure he wasn't a threat. New people mysteriously showing up with powers like his is suspicious. I was not going to let him hurt anyone." Oliver growled.

Ollie snarled back, "How could you ever think that Wally was going to hurt anyone? If you're as good at reading people as you claim, you would realize that he would never hurt another soul!"

"Oh really? What happened to the last evil speedster who went against Wally? I heard you say that no more speedsters from your dimension would dare to go after him after what he did to the last speedster who fought him. He'd never hurt a soul, huh?" Oliver accused. Cisco was halfway between actually concerned because this was a pretty serious fight and trying not to laugh because they were literally arguing with themselves.

Daredevil growled out an answer before anyone else could speak, "What he did to that other speedster was in self-defense and not. Your. Business." Cisco was rather terrified of this man after he blew up at them when finding out that Wally had been kidnapped and this little growling, angry statement only added to his fear. The devil part of his superhero name was rather fitting.

Oliver gripped his bow, "That doesn't mean anything! If he so thoroughly defeated a speedster, then he's obviously very powerful and willing to hurt someone to protect himself. I believe I had plenty of reason to be mistrustful of him."

"Alright!" B said firmly, "That's enough. All of you need to stop arguing. Nothing is getting done when we're arguing like this. Everyone makes mistakes. Oliver's was well founded and completely accidental. The same goes for Wally's mistake when dealing with the Reverse-Flash."

Cisco could hear Barry's breath catch in his throat, mirroring his own predicament. When Barry got breath, he asked, "Reverse-Flash? He took out Reverse-Flash?"

"I see you've dealt with him already." B said, a sad look on the part of his face not covered by the cowl.

"How did he defeat him?" Iris asked, her voice shaky. Eddie hadn't been dead anywhere near long enough for her to have really started healing.

B frowned biting his lower lip before responding, "He was fighting Reverse-Flash because the man had been sent by the Dimensional Light to take Wally out and he didn't want Marvel to have to deal with an evil speedster. He knew that they didn't have the training to deal with that. We barely have the training to deal with that and we have enough evil speedsters of our own. So, he started fighting Reverse-Flash, but their speeds were evenly matched. Wally realized that he had the losing hand. When their speeds were matched, it fell down to things like fitness and skill, but it also fell down to the fact that Wally couldn't see. I know that's a little hard for you guys to understand because you've always known him as someone who could see, but he was fighting that battle completely blind. So, as a last ditch effort, he did what he does best: Wally ran. He ran around and around the world, picking up speed so his punches picked up the force of a sonic boom. But then he went too fast. It got to the point where he was circumnavigating the world in under five seconds." B waited as everyone quieted their gasps and unbelieving comments. To go that fast. Cisco couldn't even comprehend that. That was… that was… he had no words for how fast that was. B continued, "And when he punched Reverse-Flash that last time… his speed must have mixed with Reverse-Flash's and together that was too much. They broke into the Speed Force. Wally got out because his friends in Marvel pulled him out, but Reverse-Flash, well, he probably won't ever come out. He's stuck there in the Speed Force, surrounded by the power of dead speedsters."

Cisco felt his breath stall in his throat again. He liked Wally; he knew Wally (at the very least, he knew him better than some of the other people on Earth-1), so he knew how absolutely devastated the kid had to have been after essentially killing someone. The kid had too big a heart to be able to truly deal with something like that even if his Reverse-Flash was as douche-y as Earth-1's Reverse-Flash. For a long moment, there was silence as everyone tried to process all the things they'd just learned. Cisco felt momentarily terrified of the situation he was in. This was just… this was just all too big for someone like him. He was just a simple scientist and now look at where he was. How had this become his life?

Captain America spoke up next, clearing his throat slightly before beginning, "He was, in our dimension and in the DC dimension, cleared for his actions as they were deemed to be completely in self-defense."

Human Torch threw in, "Wally would never hurt someone if he could help it! But that's not really our concern right now. Right now we need to focus on getting Wally back safely."

Jay Garrick's voice popped up from the background, "You know, you two look remarkably similar." For a moment, people just blinked at him. Most hadn't even been aware he was there and the rest were probably just wondering who this guy was. They really needed better communication between the dimensions. Although, thinking about what he said, Captain America and Human Torch actually did look really similar. Wipe the cocky look off of Human Torch's face and tone Captain America's muscles and overall good looks (Cisco didn't swing that way, but even so he could still appreciate a perfect human being when the situation called for it) and they could practically be twins. Huh.

Daredevil growled, "Let's get back to the point. What does Earth-1 have to share with us?"

Oliver started, "I know where Wally is on Earth-2. If it's set up the same way that this Earth is set up then I know exactly where he is at least. There's a cave a ways away from Central City. My dad brought my sister and I there once for a vacation. The cave is set high up in a cliff side to the point that it's almost impossible to get into. The entrance facing off of the side of the cliff is the only entrance and it doesn't go terribly far into the mountain. I'd assume that Zoom could just run up the side of the mountain to get in. I recognized it when I went there with Cisco when he… vibed."

Cisco picked it up from there, "So, I'm a metahuman who can vibe stuff. That basically means that I get these… visions of things. I had accidentally gotten a vision of Wally and then I kept trying and trying until I got a vision of him on purpose. That was how I figured out that Marvel had found him. The dimensional screen made it so when I vibed I could actually be heard by the people in the place I was vibing which was pretty cool, so Wally and I talked and I told him that I would bring someone else next time I vibed to see if we could get some more information. So, the next time, I brought Oliver with me and, as he said, he recognized the place. Loki and I didn't really talk to Wally about anything important other than the fact that he mentioned that Zoom was working for Vandal Savage and the Dimensional Light and then he said that we needed to go because he could hear Zoom coming and that wasn't that long ago." Cisco finished off his story with that.

Barry was the next one to speak, "After Cisco made his first contact with Wally, this guy showed up. He said his name is Jay Garrick and he's from Earth-2 and he wants to help us defeat Zoom. He said he was the Flash from Earth-2, but Zoom stole his speed before trapping him here. The problem was, we didn't know if we could trust a word he was saying. We have trust issues here as I'm sure you can tell. But I figured out that we can trust him. He's telling the truth!" Cisco turned and gave him a look that said that he was definitely cray-cray. There was something wrong with him. They didn't have any proof that this guy was telling any kind of truth. But then Barry kept going, "When I fought Reverse-Flash a little while back, I created a hole in time so I could run back in time and do something. I had made a deal with Eobard Thawne that he would tell me how to do that and we would let him go through the time hole back to his own time. There was an altercation and I didn't change the timeline like I'd planned to and someone very dear to us sacrificed himself to make it so Eobard Thawne had never been born. In all that chaos, a hat came through the time portal. It was a silver tin hat with little wings on the sides. Who else do we know who has a hat like that?"

"Jay Garrick." Ronnie answered, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

Barry nodded excitedly, "Since that time hole was the predecessor to the black hole that messed with the dimensional holes in this city and caused this entire mess, that means that there is a very high probability that the hat we found came from a different dimension. And if it's the same hat as this guy's then, well, we can trust him."

"Okay," Robin said, coming to the forefront of the dimensional screen, "Here's what we have: we have a location on where Wally is, we have two separate ways to contact him directly, we have someone who's fought that dimension's Zoom before and knows at least some weaknesses, and we have a method of getting to other dimensions using speedsters. I think it's about time we lead a totally asterous rescue party."

There was silence for a moment before Cisco tilted his head, "Asterous?"

WWWWWW

Zoom had just left and his friends hadn't come back yet. Wally slumped back against the wall, all strength gone now that there was no one around to see his weaknesses. He had managed to make Zoom really mad this time and he thought that maybe… maybe this time he had pushed it a little too far. He was a bloody, broken mess and Zoom had been so mad he'd denied Wally his usual food and bandages. There was a good chance that this was his final mistake. He just hoped that his friends would save him before then. But he was so tired. Surely it wouldn't hurt if he just… went to sleep…


	15. Chapter 15

BBBBBB

Bruce stared at his screen in intense concentration. He always gave his cases his full attention, but this was more than that. This was something very important to him and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that it went perfectly. Dick had come up with a perfect plan and was currently working to make sure that everyone knew their parts. He was delegating to each of the dimensions and to teams within the dimensions. Everyone had something to do and the Bat Family was currently working their hardest to get their part of the plan completed while their second youngest member fought tooth and nail to pull of his elaborate idea. Bruce, Damian, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, and even Barbara were in the Bat Cave (Colin had never really gotten over his fear of bats and so avoided the Bat Cave whenever he could; he was currently still in Antarctica with the others), hacking with all their might. This was a job that required extreme finesse and would need all the members working on it.

Alfred came down the stairs carefully, probably so as to not disturb any of his charges. Bruce noticed him smile fondly out of the corner of his eye, but didn't pay too much attention to it at the time. They were almost there. Suddenly, the screens all blinked at once, various hacker signals popping up in each computer's programming as, all at once, their backdoor attack on the War Planet's systems succeeded.

The Bat Clan let out a relieved breath as a single being, all taking a second to massage their fingers and lean back in their seats. Alfred took that moment's break to hand out food and hot drinks in an effort to keep his family safe and alert in their task. Bruce nodded to Alfred as the man passed him his hot chocolate and cookies. He'd never admit it to any of the other heroes, but this was a regular occurrence. Bruce really was a sucker for chocolatey sweets late at night while on a case. But this was something that only his family would ever learn.

Speaking of his family… through the connection they'd made to Vandal Savage's hiding place, they could hear the conversation coming through from the War Planet. His youngest son's name had just been mentioned.

"Why has Zoom not killed Kid Flash yet?" Luthor.

"Why do you think? He enjoys dragging it out." General Zod.

"I think the way he's torturing him and then letting him heal and then torturing him again is delightful!" Klarion.

"You would. It's safer for the Dimensional Light if he would just kill Kid Flash and be done with it." Black Manta.

"Perhaps he wishes to keep the young hero as a trophy."The Brain.

"It doesn't matter what he does. We've given him free rein to treat Kid Flash as he desires. The only thing we needed from him was to take the boy and to stay out of our way." Vandal Savage.

"Who really cares? What matters is that the dimensions are still conversing with each other regularly. We got Kid Flash out of the way because it was supposed to split the dimensions apart. It didn't work." Sinestro.

"Why am I surprised that another plan of Savage's didn't work?" Queen Bee.

"You all agreed to the plan and offered your input on who should be the one to take Kid Flash. Luthor chose Zoom. It's hardly my fault that you all voted on a villain who wasn't sufficient." Vandal Savage.

"That was quite an impressive job at pointing fingers, Savage. I'm impressed." Luthor.

"Evidently the plan worked backwards. Instead of splitting them apart, we've split ourselves apart. This isn't working. This many powerful villains obviously can't work together like this." Ra's al Ghul.

"No. We can do this. We just need to stop and reconsider. Why is this not working? Why did our plan not work?" General Zod.

"The speedster is still alive. They can't get entirely angry at each other while the speedster is still alive because they still have hope." Black Adam.

"Excuse me, there is something that requires my attention. I will return shortly." Black Manta.

"So all we have to do is convince Zoom that it would be in his interest to kill Kid Flash." Luthor.

"Klarion, call upon Zoom." Vandal Savage.

"Oh alright. But only because I'm bored." Klarion.

"What do you want?" A new voice, vibrating and chilling. This must be Zoom.

"Your play time is over. Kid Flash needs to be killed for our plan to work." Luthor.

"Your wish might have already occurred. He irks me in a way that no other has before and he pushed me into a fit of anger today. There is a good chance that he is dying where he sits at this very moment. If not, then I will comply, if only because he irritates me more than he amuses me." Zoom.

Bruce turned down the conversation, leaving the computer to record it for his reviewing later. He needed time to think. The Dimensional Light was a lot bigger than they'd originally anticipated. The battle it would take to dismantle them would be enormous. It would require all the assistance they could possible get their hands on. And that bit about Wally already dying. What had Zoom done? Their plan shouldn't take all that long to complete, but still… would they be too late? Bruce could only hope that Kalhdur'ahm would succeed in his part of the mission.

KKKKKK

Dick had singled Kaldur out and talked over his idea for Kaldur's role before announcing it to the gathered heroes and for that Kaldur was grateful. Dick was asking him to do something huge and he wasn't even sure that he could succeed. His main role in this mission was to find a way to contact his father, Black Manta, and get him to betray the Dimensional Light. Kaldur had barely survived his last meeting with his father. There was no way that Black Manta would trust him or even listen to him now that he'd betrayed him. Kaldur had gone undercover as a part of Black Manta's organization, convincing even his own friends, to get information on the Light. He'd hated almost every moment of it, but… there were moments when it was just him and Black Manta and they were doing things that most fathers and sons took for granted. They would talk and play chess and discuss their days. They often took meals together and Black Manta was always ready with a comforting pat on the shoulder or a praising word. Kaldur knew that he'd broken his father's heart when he revealed himself to be a double agent, but there was no way he could stay with the man as he continued to commit evil deeds. Even now he was instrumental in kidnapping Wally and Kaldur could not have that. So he had to find a way to show Black Manta that he was still interested in being the villain's son and that if the villain came to the good side, then they could be together as father and son once more. There was a high chance of failure, but Kaldur would do his best anyways. They needed to dismantle the Dimensional Light.

Moving silently down the corridors, Aqualad avoided all the cameras and guards and detection devices that had been there when he had been given a large role in the ship here. This was his father's main ship and it had been hidden exactly where he'd thought it would be. Apparently Black Manta hadn't changed his security measures even though someone with intimate knowledge of its ins and outs now worked on the opposite side of the law. Sneaking into his father's chambers, Aqualad walked towards a chair that had an easily defendable location and sat in it, heart breaking when he noticed the picture of himself and his father that still sat on his father's end table.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Kaldur put the virus into Black Manta's system that would find Black Manta and send a message saying that there was someone important waiting for him in his chambers. It was only moments later that he heard someone putting the code into the door to get into Black Manta's rooms and then there was his father, standing resplendent in his war armor and holding his helmet under one arm, back straight and face stern.

There was a second's long break in that stoic mask when the man saw his son – a flash of surprise then anger then confusion then understanding and then back to his neutral, stern expression. Black Manta took the seat opposite Aqualad and said evenly, "Kaldur'ahm."

"Father." Kaldur responded back steadily.

"I suppose you've come here to confront me about my part in capturing that speedster, Kid Flash." Manta said.

"In a way, yes. I want you to become a mole as I was. Betray the Dimensional Light and join the side of justice. You know that what they're doing is wrong and it will never work. Even working together, all of you cannot hope to take down other dimensions." Kaldur announced, staring straight into his father's eyes. Neither broke the contact.

"What would I gain by joining the heroes? I would hardly be pardoned for all that I have done in the past and your King would hardly approve of me spending more time with you." Manta retorted.

"What my King thinks on the matter of me spending time with my father is irrelevant. That is hardly a subject that he should have any say over. He did approve of this mission, though, if that affects your answer in any way." Kaldur responded.

That brought the first sign of emotion into the conversation, "Is that all I am to you? A mission? Is that why it was so easy for you to betray me?"

Kaldur kept his own voice even though he felt the urge to respond with as much emotion as his father, "It was not easy for me to betray you. When my team and I were deciding on the course of action of me working my way into this organization, I thought it would be easy. I thought that there was no way that I would be able to love a father who was so evil and who had done so many terrible things, but then I spent more time with you and realized that you weren't a bad person underneath it all. There are those among us who have done terrible things and who have redeemed themselves. They have recreated themselves and fought to become great heroes, rising up from the ashes of the villains they used to be. Red Hood now fights among the heroes of the Justice League. He's even stopped killing as often. Cheshire is coming over to our side little by little, even going so far as to go out on patrol with Red Arrow. Artemis, who was raised by villains and trained to kill from birth, has been fighting with us for years. You can be another hero who will inspire more villains to fight for good."

Black Manta slumped in his seat, wearily running a hand over his face, "Tell me, son, the truth behind why you ask me this. What is the real reason that you are risking your life aboard an enemy ship to get me to join you?"

Kaldur finally allowed some emotion into his voice, letting out all of his feelings when it came to his father, "I came here because I want to get Kid Flash back home. I came here because this was a way to make sure that the Dimensional Light didn't hurt anyone ever again." He paused and his father's eyes slipped shut, an almost pained expression overtaking his features. Kaldur continued, "But I risked my life to get my father back. I grew up without a father, relying on only King Arthur to fill that role where he should not have had to. Then I was given the chance to get to know my actual father and I realized that he was the right father for me. You are everything I wanted in a father and I want to say that I'm proud to be your son. At the moment, I'm ashamed of you because you fight for the wrong side, but that could change. I know that my King does not approve of us becoming closer, but I've spoken out against him and disobeyed his orders before and I will do it again to finally get a father. Please give me that chance."

Kaldur felt as if time itself had frozen as he waited for his father to respond. The man had turned away so Kaldur couldn't tell what he was thinking. This could really go either way, but he hadn't been lying. None of what he'd said was at all a lie or even a half truth. He'd meant every bit of it and he only hoped that his father could see that. After a long pause, his father lifted his face to meet the eyes of his son and said, "I accept your offer, son."


	16. Chapter 16

DDDDDD

Dick was exhausted. It was hard coordinating three dimensions in a plan meant to occur in a fourth dimension. There were honestly too many dimensions to keep track of. He only had to wait for a few pieces to fall into place before he could make his move. The acrobat was worried about how long it was taking because the Bat Clan had reported the Dimensional Light's conversation to him and Zoom's comments about Wally's health were incredibly concerning to say the least. If they went to all this trouble and he was dead when they found him… no. No! Dick would not think like that. That was just the exhaustion and the stress getting to him. Wally did not die. He is not dead. He will not die. Dick just needed to keep that in mind. They would dismantle the Dimensional Light once and for all with the cybernetic bugs in the software and with the false information Black Manta would give them, and they would get Wally back and take care of Zoom all at the same time. It took a massive coordination effort and the only reason they were able to do it was Wally.

If they hadn't been able to use someone that all the dimensions loved dearly, there was a good chance that this would have never worked. If it was simply a mission they had to undertake to take out the Dimensional Light, then there would be endless discord and disagreements and nothing would get done correctly because everyone would be doing their own things, but this was different. There was a prize, per say, at the end and it was a prize that a lot of them were willing to give their lives up for. Plus, there were a lot of speedsters running around and everything was better with speedsters involved.

Firestorm, Vibe (Cisco had asked the DC Vibe if he could use the same name and the DC Vibe had agreed because he thought it was a pretty awesome name and should be constant through the dimensions), and whoever else was pulled in to help were currently building a dimensional hole machine type thing that would basically stabilize their still strangely fluctuating dimensional holes and, with Barry's added speed, would send someone to a different dimension. They believed that because of the singularity that caused all the major problems with the dimensional holes, their holes only went to Earth-2. It was something they would have to sort out when they were finally ready to send Wally home, but Dick wasn't going to think about that right then.

Jay Garrick (Earth-2) was coaching Barry through the motions of running fast enough to rip a hole in the dimensions, even though he couldn't run himself. Flash (DC), Impulse, Jay Garrick (DC), Max Mercury, and Johnny Quick were also warming up for the run of their lives. Max Mercury would be going to the Earth-1 dimension with Superboy to help carry fighters over to Earth-2 even though he knew there was a good chance that they would be stuck there with Wally. B had wanted to be the one that went over there, but Bruce had convinced him that the best option was for him to stay in DC to deal with the Dimensional Light. Barry and Max Mercury would be fighting Zoom and taking him down once and for all while the others helped Wally escape. Bart and Johnny Quick were going to the Marvel universe and pulling people over to the DC universe to help fight the Dimensional Light. If they didn't take them out now, there was a good chance that they would just make all of their lives even more miserable, and hurt more people in the process.

Black Manta had already convinced the Dimensional Light that he was the best option to relay news of what the Justice League was doing back to the Light and he had convinced them that there were only a few lower level heroes at the Antarctica base due to some serious natural disasters and criminal activities throughout the world. Those 'natural disasters' and 'criminal activities' along with the 'higher level heroes' who would be dealing with them were all holograms that were being controlled by Mister Terrific from the Watch Tower. He was guarded by a few other heroes as these holograms needed to stay up for however long it would take to get the villains into the base where the heroes would lie in wait.

The idea was that the villains would believe that there was a good chance that they could steal all the research again and possibly disrupt the dimensional screen broadcast that they had there. The Dimensional Light would likely believe that by the time they got everything set up again, Wally would be dead and the three-way dimensional partnership would fall apart. They wouldn't know that Wally would already be rescued (hopefully) and they were walking into a trap. Black Manta would be used again to convince the Dimensional Light that all of the villains were needed to fight that battle in Antarctica and Dick just hoped that he was good enough. Kaldur had faith in his father and Dick had faith in Kaldur, so they would just have to wait and see how it all played out.

Damian's voice broke through Dick's reverie, sounding more excited than it had in a long time, "Come on, Robin. Everyone is ready. They're waiting for their leader." Was it just Dick's imagination, or was there a hint of pride in Damian's voice? Dick didn't care. He'd say there was pride there and he'd bask in it. The Bat Family did, in the long run, love each other dearly (with some speed bumps… okay, a lot of speed bumps), but there wasn't a lot of praise going around the Bat Cave and Wayne Manor. It was hard for them to admit that someone else was better than them and they were also afraid of raising someone up too much. If you let pride get in your way too much, it would be your downfall. Paying attention wouldn't be that important because you thought that you could do anything. It would be easy to kill you. And none of the members of the Bat Clan wanted that to happen to each other. The only one who thought that was stupid and refused to follow it was Wally, but that was just the kind of person that Wally was. He was too kind hearted to not give out compliments like they grew on trees.

Shaking off thoughts of his younger brother, Dick steeled himself and followed his eldest brother into the dimensional screen room. He had to steel himself again as he saw everyone staring at him. Sure, he'd been the Young Justice Team leader when Kaldur had been undercover, but that wasn't anywhere near as many people as this was. And there were so many veteran heroes here, most that had fought crime longer than he had – fought crime longer than he'd even been alive. And a lot of them weren't used to working with teams and this was just so bad and he was going to mess up and it was all going to fall apart and Wally was going to die and it was going to be all his fault.

With a blink, Dick had dispelled the negative thoughts and stepped to the forefront of the room – a place where all the heroes from all the dimensions could see him –, becoming Robin. He was a hero and he'd been fighting crime since he was nine years old. He had a great idea and he'd organized it this far. All he had to do now was formally announce that the mission could begin. If he made a mistake, then it was his fault, but he couldn't have done any better and he doubted the rest of them could have either. His voice was strong when he eventually said, "We've worked hard to get to this point and we're ready for what will come at us. This has only been made possible by our willingness to work together. I thank all of you for that. Now, we should probably get going. After all, the real crime would be to not finish what we started."

There was a huge bout of cheering and Dick felt himself give a huge grin in response. They could actually pull it off. He knew they could.

CCCCCC

Conner Kent wasn't really sure what he felt about going to another dimension. He knew that Bart was beyond excited about his imminent journey to the Marvel Universe, but Conner didn't personally care that he was going to go to Earth-1 and then Earth-2. Most of the heroes here had traveled to alternate universes or traveled in time – or both at the same time – so traveling to different dimensions didn't seem all that special to him. He supposed that it was a mark of how strange the life of a hero was that he thought that inter-dimensional traveling was mundane, but then again, he'd never known anything but the hero life. From the day he'd been born he was groomed as a weapon and then he'd been raised as a hero. That was all he knew and he wouldn't change it for the world. He loved the life he had and the people that he had.

Even so, Conner couldn't help but feel a little wary when Max Mercury had told him to get on his back, piggy-back style (Conner wasn't even sure if Mercury would be able to hold him). Hesitantly moving into position, Conner nodded seriously to Superman who was standing on the edge of room, watching Conner with concern in his eyes. Wally was the reason that Clark cared about him as a son and Wally was the reason that Conner had even seen Superman for the first time. Wally had promised him the moon and he'd delivered and Conner knew that he'd never be able to repay it, but this was a start at the very least. The half-kryptonian gave Clark his best smile and then they were off, tearing around the room while Max Mercury tried to get up to speed. And then, in a burst of light, speedster and alien were ripping through the dimensions and flinging themselves through into Earth-1.

Blinking sluggishly, Conner carefully stood up (the trip through dimensions had managed to knock Max Mercury off his feet and the two had landed unceremoniously on the ground) and glanced around the room. There was a red-headed woman (Dr. Caitlin Snow) who was already doing some sort of medical examination on Mercury and then there was an old man and a younger man (Ronnie and Professor Stein) standing next to each other, going over the machine that had allowed Max and Conner to get to this dimension. There was a black haired young man (Cisco Ramon) standing on a raised part of the room cheering to himself and doing a little victory dance. At the back of the room stood two people who were obviously father and daughter (Joe and Iris West). They were watching the room with shock dominating their expressions. And then, at the forefront of the room, watching them cautiously were four people who were obviously heroes. One of them was wearing all green and had a bow and arrow set at the ready (Green Arrow). Another wore a similar outfit but in red (Red Arrow). He was standing a bit behind the two people wearing the Flash's lightning bolt. The younger one was obviously Barry Allen and the older was Jay Garrick. Conner remembered all of the names in an instant.

He watched as Max Mercury scowled at the doctor who was trying to check him over, "Calm down there, miss. I'm fine. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with me after traveling through that thing. Apparently you guys worked out the part that changes the person traveling. I'm Max Mercury – hero name Mercury. Obviously, I'm a speedster."

"There seem to be a lot of those." Green Arrow noted dryly, "Did you get struck by lightning too?"

"No." Mercury smiled, "An Indian shaman enchanted me in, oh, say… the 1830s I think. Sometimes it's hard to remember what time I'm from." His smile was a little bitter, but still jovial. He was a speedster after all.

"Oh." Green Arrow said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Conner figured that this would be a good time to introduce himself, "I'm Conner Kent. My hero name is Superboy."

"Ooh… and what can you do?" Cisco asked excitedly, coming down a few steps - to get closer to the conversation probably.

Conner shrugged, "There's only one thing that can cut through my skin. I can clear tall buildings in one leap. I've got super strength. I can detect heat signatures. I was trained by Black Canary to fight. I have super hearing."

Cisco blinked at him, "Oh, alright then. That's a lot of powers for a metahuman."

Superboy frowned, "I'm not a metahuman. I'm half Kryptonian, half human."

"What are Kryptonians?" Barry asked.

"Aliens from the planet Krypton." Conner answered simply. He wasn't sure what this had to do with the goal of rescuing Wally. Shouldn't they already be on their way?

"Aliens. Joy." Red Arrow muttered. Conner was pretty sure that he had said it sarcastically, but he was still working on that. He had definitely gotten better, but sometimes it was hard to catch the smaller bits of sarcasm, especially when he was focused on something else.

Max Mercury huffed out a laugh and said, "Are you satisfied that we weren't horribly altered by the dimensional hole? Because if you are then we can probably get going. We don't have long to get Wally out of there. You know the tactic. Barry and I run everyone through the portal. We should show up in the cave where Wally is being held. Red Arrow and Green Arrow will cover Superboy and Firestorm as they get Garrick and Wally out of the cave and to a safe location. Garrick will protect Wally and treat any wounds he can. Superboy and Firestorm will come back to the cave and help the rest of us take out Zoom. Barry and I will be engaging Zoom head-on. We'll do our best to get Zoom out in the open so Green and Red Arrow will have a little bit more room to work with, but there's a chance that won't pan out. Cisco's made the power cancelling cuffs and each of us will be outfitted with a pair. Is everyone clear on their roles?"

Everyone nodded and Conner let out a sigh of relief. He didn't think that anyone would raise a fuss, but he really didn't know these people. They could have raised a fuss and wasted time they didn't have. Wally was counting on them and they were still wasting time. Barry ran through the hole first, practically staggering under the weight of Firestorm in one arm and Green Arrow in the either. Max brought Garrick and Red Arrow next. Barry was back the next second, motioning for Superboy to hurry and get on his back. Superboy didn't waste any time, but he had to clamp down on his excitement and adrenaline rush so he didn't hurt Barry beneath him.

When the world stopped pulsing, and spinning, and whiting out around him, Conner stood quickly and surveyed the room. So far, they were alone. Zoom wasn't here. Moving fast, Conner rushed to the cage where Wally was held, Firestorm right next to him. Even though he'd been preparing for the worst, the sight before him still took his breath away. Wally still had the tiniest tinge of brown on spots that were obviously bad bruises at one point. His jaw had healed wrong and was crooked on his face. Talking would be painful. There was a gaping hole in his side that was steadily pouring blood to continue to pool in the mess of blood beneath him. It was obvious that there were other complications that Conner couldn't discern.

It made his blood boil. He'd never been one to keep his temper well, but the thick chains that held his friend immobile set him over the edge. With a roar of rage, Conner smashed his fist into the glass wall, bringing the admittedly thick and hard to break glass shattering around. The sound must have woken Wally who jerked up a little bit, hissing at the pain, "What? Conner…"

"We're here to save you." Conner said bluntly.

Wally blinked owlishly at him. And wasn't that a sight to see. Conner wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to Wally blinking at them or, well, actually being able to see them in the first place. Then Wally was talking again, wincing from any number of his wounds, "How?"

"That's not important. We need to get you out of here." Conner stated simply. Superboy tore each of the chains off at the cuff, leaving those on for now. He didn't have the time to carefully remove those and he could tell that the skin around them was rubbed raw. Wally must have been yanking at them. Shaking his head to clear the thought, Conner gently gripped his friend, worried at how light he was. Wasn't he eating enough? Obviously Zoom wasn't doing a good enough job at taking care of him. Just another reason to hate this Zoom character.

Firestorm already had Garrick in his arms, "Ready to go Superboy?"

Superboy didn't bother with a response and chose to launch himself out of the cave instead. He had just bounded over a bunch of trees, Firestorm flying over them with Garrick shouting out instructions, when he saw Zoom zip past them. If the evil speedster had seen them, he hadn't stopped to confront them.

After just a few more seconds (where Conner was starting to get impatient because he wanted to take a shot at Zoom… or maybe two… or three… or a hundred), Garrick instructed them to land. They were in an isolated clearing in the woods that would be hard to find if they didn't already know the way. Conner gently set Wally down and then immediately set off, hearing Garrick talk to Wally, "I'm Jay Garrick. I'm the Flash here. I wanted to stop Zoom too, but he stole my speed, so I'm basically useless in a fight. They're having me take care of you and patch you up. Can you tell me what hurts? Good, now I'm just going to…" His voice trailed off as Conner got further and further and his hearing concentrated on the sounds of the fight in front of him.

Firestorm launched into the battle as soon as he reached the place in front of the cave, sending a shot of fire right in front of where Zoom would have been if he had kept running straight, but he pulled up short and ran in a different direction instead. He launched up the cliff side and then jumped off, catching Firestorm under the chin before anyone could do anything. Then Zoom threw himself in a different direction; Max Mercury zipped after him up the cliff side. Conner caught Firestorm as he fell, setting him down a little ways away from the clearing before landing at the edge again. Barry came up behind Conner, winded and sporting a bruise on the side of his face that was already healing, "Well, we managed to get the fight outside of the cave. It's not really helping. Why don't you show us what you've got?"

Conner grinned at him and, as Zoom made it back to ground level, he shouted a warning before punching the ground. Everything shook as a crater formed under his fist, sending shock waves through the ground and knocking Zoom off balance. The man pulled to a stop for a split second, not sure who this new threat was, but that second was apparently enough for the two archers. Their bows were already notched and they simply pulled back and released, not even seeming to aim. The arrows flew true, though, and Conner heard them tear Zoom's suit, but then something bad happened.

The man started vibrating the nanosecond his suit tore and the next thing any of them knew, the arrows passed through his body and shattered against a tree on the other side of the clearing. Green Arrow didn't let that deter him as he pulled back for another shot, aimed, and fired. This one went through Zoom the same way, but somehow managed to hit Conner in the chest on its way to the other side of the clearing. He was kind of miffed. Red Arrow was staring at him in obvious shock.

Zoom laughed, his voice vibrating and sending a shiver down Conner's spine as his sensitive ears picked up all the little inflections in the voice, "You cannot defeat me. I am the ultimate speedster! There is none greater than I! Your fire and your strength and your little arrows won't even slow me down!" He seemed like he was going to keep going, but at that very moment, ice started to creep up his legs and his sides. Within moments, he was frozen solid.

A cold voice that sounded like it was echoing off glaciers of ice drawled, "How about ice?"

"Killer Frost?" Barry ventured. He sounded strange, his voice coming out almost strangled. Red and Green Arrow seemed similarly shocked. He wondered what was wrong with them. Shrugging, he decided he didn't care. He was about to suggest that they wake Firestorm up so they could melt the ice around Zoom's hands to cuff him before melting the rest, but he was interrupted by the sound of melting ice.

He grunted quickly, "Zoom's escaping." That was all he needed to say for the rest to focus on the problem at hand.

They easily fell into battle-ready stances, surrounding the villain that had hurt their friend. When Zoom finally melted the ice around him through increasing movement in his molecules to induce heat, Conner could tell that he was well and truly mad. He was actually vibrating with rage, something that Conner had only seen speedsters do on very few occasions. Speedsters, even evil ones, didn't get truly mad often. Zoom turned in a quick circle, the only evidence being the blur that surrounded him for a second before he was back to normal, facing Barry.

His voice was tight with rage, even through the vibrations, when he said, "I will kill you all. I am the greatest speedster! I am the greatest metahuman! I am the most powerful! You will not defeat me!" Conner noted that the man had finally snapped. On the one hand, his lack of inhibitions would make him more dangerous, but on the other hand, his anger would make his moves sloppier. He could only hope that it made him more sloppy than dangerous. They didn't need this man to be any more dangerous.

Suddenly, Zoom was right in front of him and there was a fist coming towards his face, but even he couldn't move out of the way in time. He went flying backwards, actually breaking a tree in half as he smashed through it. He heard the surprised and worried exclamations of his comrades, but he wasn't listening. This was the person who had broken Wally's legs. This was the person who had kidnapped Wally. This was the person who had tortured Wally. He was not getting any mercy from Conner. Roaring again, Conner launched forward, not even fazed by the hit he took.

Unfortunately, his moves were too slow. The way he swung only to find Zoom in a different spot, acting nonplussed, infuriated him. He couldn't defeat this man with brute strength. So what should he do? Brute strength was kind of his specialty. That is, until he remembered a move Black Canary had taught them years ago – near the beginning of the Team, actually. He remembered it because it was the first time he had ever managed to knock Wally flat on his back. He'd never seen someone so excited about getting beat. Wally had grinned joyfully and pumped his fist in the air, congratulating Conner and asking him to help Wally master the move. It had warmed Conner's heart. Shaking off the thought and focusing on the moment, Conner threw out a punch, aiming toward the right side of Zoom's head. As expected, the villain moved to the left, but Conner already had a leg out, ready for him. Zoom tripped spectacularly, face planting on the ground, a satisfying crunch telling Conner that the monster had broken his nose with the fall. With the thud his head made, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a concussion mixed in there somewhere.

His thoughts on the concussion were confirmed when the man stood up and stumbled. He raced away from the group, but everyone could tell that he wasn't focused enough. He forewent the cliff side entirely, apparently having kept enough of his wits to know that he wouldn't make that climb in the state he was in. Max Mercury and Barry were after him in a second. Mercury swept Zoom's feet out from under him at the same time that Barry slugged him across the jaw. Zoom was up faster than they were expecting, though, and he struck out at both of them, getting Barry in the eye and Max in the temple. Barry kept fighting him, backing up towards the group as he stayed on the defensive, too caught up in the incredibly quick (even for him) attacks of his enemy. Mercury dropped like a stone with the blow, but knowing speedsters, the man would be up in a few moments anyways.

Zoom eventually got a good hit in, and Barry fell back, landing on his hip and hissing in pain. Conner could hear something pop and figured that that wasn't very good. Zoom stood over Barry and hissed in anger (the words coming out slurred due to the broken nose), "You have angered me in a way that only that brat Kid Flash has managed to before. I will kill you and I will make it slow and painful. I-," He was cut off by the ice creeping up his legs, "You fool! You cannot believe that this will stop me when I easily escaped last time, can you?"

Killer Frost smirked, "I wasn't trying to stop you."

Zoom realized the meaning two late and couldn't stop the sharp-edged arrow that tore into his shoulder, nor the dart arrow that buried itself into his neck. The cold affected his ability to get to the right molecular vibration speed in time to vibrate through the arrows. Within moments, the sedative in the dart was flowing through his veins. Green Arrow jogged over, "This won't last long. Speedsters burn through drugs faster than anything I've seen." With a satisfied smile, he clapped the power-cancelling cuffs onto Zoom's wrists, tightening them a bit more than needed.

For the first time since he went with Max Mercury to Earth-1, Conner smiled, "We won."

Red Arrow laughed a little bit, "Yeah, we won." He was sporting a gash on his upper arm and a bruise was forming over his right eye, but he looked relatively alright. Looking around, Conner noted that he was the only one not injured. Killer Frost had slipped off at some point. Conner wasn't really surprised. When villains do good things, they normally didn't wait around to be congratulated. They were more worried they were going to get arrested afterwards. The Rogues were, of course, the exception, but when were they not?

"Not due to any help from me." Firestorm admitted wryly before motioning towards the direction he'd (they'd?) flown Garrick off to, "Either way, we should probably go get Wally and Garrick and then head home. I'm sure he could use some medical and I'm sure a few of you could too." With that said and a friendly nod in their direction, Firestorm flew off, maintaining a stream of fire behind him to show the direction for those who hadn't gone there.

Barry frowned for a second as Max Mercury (carrying Red Arrow) zipped away from the clearing, "You know, we probably should have gone over what we were going to do with him. Do they even have cells for metahumans here?"

Green Arrow scowled at him, "We're not taking him back to Earth-1."

"I wasn't suggesting that!" Barry defended.

Conner said, "Why don't we knock him out and ask Garrick?"

"That's a great idea! Thanks Superboy!" Barry grinned before he pulled his fist back and slammed it into Zoom's slow waking face. Any flutter of alertness that could have decorated Zoom's face behind that mask was washed away as he fell like a stone into unconsciousness. Barry nodded to Conner, "Can you grab him and I'll grab Green Arrow? We'll meet at the clearing."

Conner nodded and threw Zoom over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The man was probably going to have a bruise on his midsection from impacting with Conner's shoulder, but he really couldn't bring himself to care.

WWWWWW

Wally was leaning up against a tree when the rest of the rescue team showed up. He waved weakly at them, beyond tired. Jay Garrick had brought some high calorie food with him, so everything was starting to heal, but they'd put off fixing his jaw until they had a medical professional to help set it correctly. This Jay Garrick was actually pretty nice and he reminded Wally of his Grandpa Jay a lot. He knew they weren't the same people, but having them act similar really helped. It was better than having the dimensional counterparts be complete opposites like Ollie and Oliver.

Speaking of Oliver, the man walked over to Wally, Roy not far behind. The others were talking with Jay to decide what to do with Zoom if Wally's sensitive ears were hearing it correctly. Oliver sat down next to Wally, Roy taking his other side. For a moment, the three heroes just sat there silently. Wally was the first to speak, "I don't blame you, you know. You didn't do anything wrong and it was just unlucky that it happened the way it did. He was prepared to capture me at all costs and at least, the way he did get me, no one else was hurt. In a way, you actually prevented people from getting hurt, so don't blame yourself."

"How did you know I'd blame myself?" Oliver asked quietly, sounding less… Batman-like than ever before.

"Because I know Uncle Ollie and I know that you are at least a bit similar to him. Plus, we're heroes. It's basically in our DNA to blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong in our lives. And I knew Uncle Ollie would blame you. He does that when he gets mad. It's one of the reasons he and Roy didn't work out." Wally responded, wincing a little bit at the pain in his jaw. He'd decided to just keep his eyes closed for the moment because, honestly, he had a wicked headache and having his eyes open always just added to headaches.

There was silence for another moment, and then Wally heard Conner come closer. Conner squatted in front of Wally and said, "We missed you."

It was such a Conner thing to say, too. He didn't care about saying something embarrassing or going on until all of his emotions were out there for the world to see. He just wanted to state a simple fact and he believed in that fact with all his heart. It was how he always spoke and Wally's heart soared at the chance to hear it again, "I missed you guys too. I heard you and M'gann got back together again. How's that going?"

"Good. La'gaan was upset for a while, but then he started dating Barbara." Conner said, sitting down in the grass in front of them.

Wally vaguely heard Barry and Max run off with Jay Garrick and Zoom, but he was too busy being mind blown, "La'gaan is dating Babs? Barbara is actually dating someone? Who else is dating who?"

Conner tilted his head in thought, "Bart and Jinx are dating. Karen and Mal are still together. So are Dick and Zatanna. Tim and Stephanie are dating again. They broke up for a little bit when they thought you'd died, but they're together now. Cassie Sandsmark is dating Virgil Hawkins. Virgil is Static. I don't think you really got a chance to know him before you left."

"First of all, go Bart for finally asking Jinx out! Second of all, Virgil seemed nice. He's definitely sweet enough to be a good boyfriend for Cassie. What does Aunt Diana think about them dating?" Wally asked, a grin painted over his lips. He'd been away from home for far too long.

"Wonder Woman doesn't know as far as I can tell." Conner said, a smile touching the corners of his lips.

Wally laughed, throwing his head back and only stopping when his side hurt too much, "Oh man, I can't wait to see her reaction when she finds out. I mean, she's definitely gotten better with the whole relationship thing after all the time she's spent in 'man's world', but she's going to freak when she realizes her innocent little ward is dating someone. Virgil better not ever break up with Cassie."

"Wonder Woman would come after him with her lasso and make him tell everyone his secrets." Conner said, a small smile now adorning his face.

Wally kept going, "Uncle Clark would try to make her stop because that's just the boy scout he is." He was glad that he was able to talk about Superman so freely now that the two Kryptonians had finally become a family.

Conner added, "Green Arrow would try to stop Clark because he was probably betting on the situation and wanted to make sure he got his money."

"Aunt Dinah would slap him upside the head and glare at him until he stopped trying to stop Uncle Clark. Not that he would have been successful anyways – there's no stopping Superman when he wants something." Wally grinned.

"Robin would have his camera out recording the whole thing." Conner grinned back.

"And Oracle would be hacking the Justice League cameras to make sure that she had her own blackmail too." Wally mocked groaned.

"Barry would be laughing, but half-heartedly trying to stop it at the same time. And Green Lantern – Hal Jordan, not any of the others – would laugh and cheer them on." Conner added as an afterthought.

"Cassie would be trying to stop it too, for all that she was heartbroken, because she would be afraid that Virgil would say something about the two of them that she wouldn't want Aunt Diana to know." Wally added with a wicked smile.

"And then Batman would walk in and glare and everyone would stop what they were doing and go back to normal. Batman would then just keep walking away." Conner finished.

There was a moment's pause before the two burst out laughing, beyond overjoyed at being able to see each other again. By that time, the two speedsters had returned and Wally saw them watching in amusement. Smiling at them, Wally asked, "So what's the plan now?"

Max answered with a smile, "We head back over to Earth-2. Marvel and DC are dealing with the Dimensional Light right now. They've laid a trap and that group of villains doesn't stand a chance. Jay Garrick says goodbye and that he's going to try to find a way to siphon Zoom's speed off and take it back into himself so he can become this earth's Flash again. Zoom is in a cell and won't be escaping here anytime soon. So, you ready to go back to Earth-1, kid?"

Wally scowled good-naturedly and said, "I'm hardly a kid anymore! I'm eighteen I'll have you know!"

"You sure about that? Just a month ago you were, what? Thirteen, fourteen?" Max grinned and ruffled Wally's hair.

As the elder speedster was picking him up, Wally whined, "That's not fair! I was de-aged, so it doesn't count!" Max just laughed and sped back towards the cave and the dimensional hole that stood inside of it. Shaking his head, Wally smiled and leaning into the hold, closing his eyes and just letting the wind sweep through his hair and over his skin. It wasn't quite the same as running, but it was closer than he'd gotten for a while and his back would still take even longer to heal. He was finally free from Zoom. He would be going back to Earth-1 and soon, back home. He couldn't wait.


	17. Chapter 17

PPPPPP

Peter Parker was a little concerned. He felt justified in being as concerned as he was. At least, he did until he looked around and realized that no one else seemed at all concerned. They were all just talking and chilling and hanging out like they weren't about to get pulled into another dimension that they might not be able to get back from and like they weren't about to go face off against a group of supervillains that an entire Justice League felt they couldn't handle on their own. Why weren't they freaking out? Was it because they didn't have an Aunt May to go back to? Was it because their family was making the trip with them and so they knew they would be with their family no matter what dimension they got stuck it? That wouldn't explain why Thor was so calm leaving Loki, or Iron Man leaving Pepper Potts, or Hawkeye leaving his wife and kids, or Daredevil leaving Foggy, or Captain America leaving Peggy, or any of the others. They all had people to come back to, and yet they didn't seem worried about not coming back to them. Why? What was Peter missing?

It didn't take long for him to realize what it was. He was missing hope. Sure, he had some hope, but he had an inordinate amount of worry too. There were so many things that could go wrong with this and Peter wasn't sure that any of them could handle it, but they really didn't have a choice, did they? There were worlds and dimensions out there to save and they couldn't skimp on their duties just because they were scared. So they erased that fear with hope. No, erased isn't the right word. They smothered that fear with hope. They covered it up and pushed it down and wrestled it into submission because fear can be helpful in a battle – if you don't let it control you. And that, Peter realized, was what the rest of them were doing. They were fighting their fear and controlling it. And maybe that was what he was doing too. That was why he wore the mask after all. It hid his emotions. It hid his fear. If other people couldn't see his fear, then he could work with it better. When other people see a hero afraid, it makes them afraid. And then everyone's afraid and no one is fighting to the best of their abilities and it all goes downhill. So he wears the mask to stop that from happening. And to hide his identity, of course, but he could have done that with a smaller mask.

With that thought in his heart, a significantly calmer Peter Parker was facing the dimensional hole when two bodies tumbled through it. Senses on high alert, Peter quickly realized that it was the two speedsters they had been told to expect – Johnny Quick and Impulse. Johnny Quick stood and dusted himself off quickly (hehe, get it? Quickly?) while Impulse flitted around the room, taking everyone in and shaking hands with a swift fervor that left people stunned and confused. Basically, he was a miniature Kid Flash in the making. When he finally made it to Peter, he stopped long enough for people to actually see him. His hair was a brownish red that accented his red and off-white suit quite well. Over his ears were the signature lightning bolt symbols that Kid Flash had taught the Marvel universe to associate with speedster. He was standing tall and proud and had a grin splitting his face. Johnny Quick was looking on with a much more guarded, but still hopeful, expression. He kept his eyesore red and yellow suit tilted towards the younger speedster as if ready to go save him at any moment. Quick didn't have that iconic speedster lightning bolt, instead wearing a black u-shaped thing with what looked to be wrings branching off of either side.

There was a moment of silence after Impulse had stopped flitting around the room. What was one to say in this sort of situation? Tony spoke first, his voice metallic through the mask, "Welp, we should get started, shouldn't we? How many of us are going over there again?"

"We've been over this, Tony. The Fantastic Four are staying here to watch over the city and make sure that no one tries to take advantage of us leaving. Daredevil, the Avengers, and Spiderman are all going over to this other dimension. Some of the older heroes are going to prime the traps and then we're all going to wait until Black Manta gives the signal and then we'll get into hiding positions and ambush the villains. " Steve sighed, glaring at his teammate.

It didn't seem to affect Tony at all who shrugged and said, "Eh, that was boring, so I didn't listen. So… how are you going to carry us over? No offense, but you don't look all that strong. Can you even carry us?"

Impulse grinned and said, "Wanna go first? Then you can test it out for your very own!" When it looked like Tony was about to protest, Impulse's grin grew wider and he said, "Or are you too scared?"

That was what did it for Tony and he was quickly marching up to Impulse, lifting his head a little as if to ask 'what are you waiting for?' And then there was a burst of air and lightning and a bright light emitting from the dimensional hole, and they were gone. Just, gone. The two of them weren't there anymore. Quick said, "I'm going to wait here until Bart comes back and then I'll bring people through. I don't want there to be a time when both of us are in one dimension or the other. Who's coming over with me?"

He ended up grabbing Captain America in one arm and Bruce Banner in the other. Impulse ripped back into existence in this dimension and Quick threw himself back into his own dimension, travelers in tow. Impulse towed Thor over next, saying he didn't want to overexert himself and bring more than one when that one was as big as Thor. Then Johnny Quick was taking over Clint and Natasha and then, finally, it was Peter's turn and he and Daredevil were being brought over to another dimension by someone who wasn't even as old as Peter (at least, he didn't think so) and this was so weird and it wasn't going to work this time and they weren't going to get through the dimensional hole and they were going to combust and die horribly and poor Aunt May would be all alone without Peter and they wouldn't even be able to tell her how she died because that would mean telling her that he was Spiderman and he didn't ever want her to know that and –

Daredevil twisted around from the other side of Impulse and growled calmingly (how was that even possible), "It will be fine." Peter nodded back at him and closed his eyes, willing away his nervousness. It didn't go away, but Peter felt like he had better control over it than he'd had before. That was something at least, right?

But then there was a burst of light and Peter hadn't even realized that they'd been moving towards the portal inhumanly fast and then, bam! The world slowed and calmed around him and he flipped coming out of the portal, landing nimbly on his feet. Daredevil landed in some weird crouch position thing that Peter actually couldn't tell whether or not it was intentional or not. Impulse ran off his momentum a little bit, coming to a stop next to the Flash. So this was the DC universe. There wasn't really a lot to say about it since he'd been looking at this location through the dimensional screen for the past couple of weeks. He likely wouldn't ever see more than this little bit. Well, maybe he would. Now that they'd pretty much stabilized dimensional travel, there was a good chance that the people in Marvel would still be seeing a lot of their speedy friend and maybe some other friends that they would meet here in this dimension.

Or… maybe not. Despite the good work that they'd been doing together for a long while now, something about meeting face to face already seemed to not be going well. Daredevil and Batman started glaring (or giving off the impression of glaring in Daredevil's case) at each other the moment Daredevil entered the room, apparently still miffed about the whole 'Wally loves both of them like a father and they can't decide who's better' thing. Clint and Natasha were stood close to each other, Clint turning his nose up at Green Arrow's quiver. Black Widow and Black Canary were standing in the same position, one foot slightly forward and arms crossed and seemed to be simultaneously vying for the most attention and trying to show that they didn't need any attention. Green Arrow, standing next to Black Canary was fingering his bow and crinkling his nose at Hawkeye's bow. Captain America and Superman were standing next to each other. They were about equal height, so Superman let his feet leave the ground and floated a few inches about Cap. Steve stood up straighter, achieving the same height as Superman. The Kryptonian just floated a little higher. Thor was next to Hawkman, watching Hawkgirl who had her mace held proudly in one hand, prompting Thor to, from across the room, shift his hammer into a more obvious position. Hawkgirl's wings splayed out and Thor shook his hair into more of a golden halo. Banner and Captain Atom were standing next to each other both trying to look more science-y.

The worst thing was, they were doing it all subconsciously! None of them seemed to realize that they were trying to one-up each other. A voice just behind his shoulder set Spiderman's spider senses tingling, "Heroes are such suck-ups, aren't they?"

Spiderman whirled around, facing the solid red mask of Jason, Red Hood. He coughed a little and said, "Oh, hey there. Uh, I don't think so. I think they're just worried about Wally and trying to show the others that they can help."

"Uh huh, sure. It doesn't matter anyways. We could have handled it without you Marvel people butting in." Red Hood said, going to lean against the wall, mask blank and passive.

Peter wrinkled his nose, knowing that the older hero wouldn't be able to see it, "I don't think so. I mean, would they have asked if they didn't need help? It's not bad to need help – it's bad to not ask for it when you need it."

Red Hood gave off the impression of rolling his eyes without Peter actually being able to see his eyes, "Whatever. What do you guys even have to offer anyways?"

"Thor can summon lightning." Peter answered promptly.

"So can most speedsters. They throw lightning just fine." Red Hood responded dryly.

"Black Widow is a trained assassin who is almost never beat and who can take practically anyone down. She's nearly silent." Peter threw back smugly.

"Practically no one can beat Black Canary and that's without her metahuman powers. The entire bat family is completely silent. I mean, did you even notice me until I said anything?" Peter shifted guiltily and he had the strangest feeling that Red Hood was smirking at him beneath his mask. The older hero (anti-hero? Villain? Reformed villain?) continued, "Artemis was trained as an assassin since birth." Red Hood threw back just as smugly.

"Iron Man is a genius who has his suit fitted with all sorts of high-tech gadgets." Peter tried.

"Atom has a suit fitted with all sorts of high-tech gadgets that also shrinks when he wants it to." Red Hood rebutted.

"Hawkeye has better eyesight than almost anyone and is a perfect shot." Peter added.

"Green Arrow is a perfect shot. So is Red Arrow. And Artemis." Red Hood answered, seemingly bored.

Peter was starting to get frustrated, "We have a Hulk."

That stopped Red Hood, "A… what?"

"A Hulk. That's Dr. Banner over there. When he gets mad, he turns into a giant green fighting machine that is super strong and super vicious and can leap tall buildings and who's skin is completely bullet proof. Shooting him with anything just makes him mad. Plus, he had accelerated healing. The angrier he gets, the more powerful he gets and the harder it is to hurt him." Peter responded, warming up to the argument.

"What's his weakness?" Red Hood asked, giving off the impression of frowning.

Peter thought for a moment, "You know what, I'm not sure. I don't know if he even has one…"

"So he doesn't have any sort of Kryptonite weakness that's pretty obvious or anything?" Red Hood asked.

"I guess, you could be nice to him? Get him to stop being angry? I haven't really thought of how to neutralize the Hulk." Peter pointed out.

"You should." Red Hood muttered before continuing on in a louder voice, "But alright, kid. I'll give this round to you because I'm bored and don't want to keep playing this game anymore. Welcome to DC."

And with that, he was gone, melted back into the shadows of the room and invisible unless to the finely trained eye. Natasha or Clint probably could have seen where he'd gone, but Peter was not that good. Suddenly a new voice came from behind him, "I'm surprised. Jason doesn't normally concede defeat that easily. Unless it's Wally he's arguing against." Peter jumped in surprise, his Spider Sense going off the moment the voice started speaking.

Whirling around, Peter saw that it was Robin who had snuck up on him. The slightly older hero had a smirk playing around the corners of his lips that told Peter that he knew exactly how good he was at sneaking up behind people. Peter jokingly growled, "What is with you people? My spider sense doesn't even go off until it's too late! Walk around like normal people for once!"

"We're good at hiding our deadly intent." A sarcastic voice came from his other side and he whirled again to come face to face with Spoiler, once a former Robin according to Wally and, as far as he understood, currently dating Tim Drake (aka Red Robin). Peter was impressed with himself for remembering all these names even though he wasn't too impressed with his seemingly malfunctioning spider sense. Then again, it really did only off when he was in danger. Wally snuck up on him all the time without him noticing. Then again, maybe it's only a Bat family thing. Wally always said that Batman could do things because he's Batman and would never clarify further. Apparently just being Batman or being associated with him immediately gave you strange not-quite-super abilities.

Peter was about to respond when Red Hood's voice came out of the shadows near Robin, "Don't annoy the newbies with your moronic ideas, fatty."

"Don't insult my girlfriend, Hood." Red Robin came up from nowhere.

"As I've said many times, runt, if she wasn't stupid enough to do things that get her insulted, I wouldn't insult her." Red Hood growled back.

Robin's voice joined the melee again, "So you shouldn't find a problem with it if I insult you, right?" Red Hood swung at him and Robin simply flipped into the air and landed nimbly on the ground, a high cackle leaving his throat. It was actually kind of terrifying.

"If you want to actually convince people that you are a leader, you should at least attempt to act as if you have grown out of your excitable nine-year old stage." This was a low drawl that came from a man who stood in one of Peter's rapidly decreasing escape roots. The suit made him instantly recognizable as Nightwing.

The man on Nightwing's arm (Colin, or Abuse in superhero form if Peter remembered correctly) smiled lightly and said, "I think Robin's doing an amazing job at being the best leader!"

"Thanks Colin!" Robin grinned brightly.

"I'm surrounded by morons." Red Hood groused.

"Did you call me a moron?" A girl – no, woman – asked quietly from another of Peter's potential escape roots. This was obviously Black Bat, Wally's only sister. Peter could really sympathize with this woman. It must be tough living with this much crazy.

"What?" Red Hood spluttered, "Uh, no! I didn't know you were there. I wasn't talking about you!"

Spoiler grinned, "So you called her best friend a moron instead? And you called her best friend fat." Black Bat angled her body and her eyebrow moved under her mask, somehow projecting the movement. It was obvious that she was silently demanding Jason to explain and explain well if he didn't want to lose a limb. It was kind of terrifying how easily she got that message across without speaking.

Red Hood projected a murderous expression (seriously, how did they do that? His was a solid mask! It shouldn't display emotions) Stephanie's way before it turned appeasing again and he tried to reassure Cass without losing his appearance of masculinity in front of his brothers. Damian snorted and Colin tittered at his arm. Dick was grinning and Tim had a smug expression on his face that said it all.

Red Hood growled and said, "Get rid of that smug look, Replacement, or I'll remove it for you."

"Wow, two words in one sentence with more than four letters. I didn't know you knew that many big words." Robin grinned.

Nightwing snorted, "You're one to talk. Must I remind you of the term 'whelming'?"

"Nope," Robin beamed, "I've got that one memorized! I can think of a new one, though, if you want."

"Great job, demon – I mean Damian – you're encouraging him." Red Robin said, rolling his eyes (how Peter could tell when there were only white slits for eyes, he would never know).

"I think you've been spending too much time with Spoiler." Abuse laughed.

"You are alright with him calling me demon, beloved?" Nightwing asked.

"You are a demon, sweetie. But you're my demon." Abuse smiled, leaning up to kiss his husband.

"Do that where we don't have to be scarred by it." Red Hood growled.

"I think it's cute!" Spoiler defended.

"You would." Robin rolled his eyes and pretended to gag.

"It is cute." Black Bat commented quietly.

"It's not cute." Red Hood growled in response.

"Haven't you learned by now that when two or more girls agree on something, it's pointless to argue?" Red Robin cut in.

"No girl runs my life that way. I'm not chained down by some chick like you are." Red Hood sniffed.

"And look where you are." Nightwing muttered.

The conversation only devolved from there, but Peter kind of tuned it out. He was more than a little shell-shocked. Was this what Wally had to go through all the time at home? No wonder he ended up so weird. Peter didn't think he'd ever met so many people who so thoroughly disagreed with each other. He hadn't even known that so many different opinions could be injected into one argument. At least with the Avengers, they were normally split between two opinions, not one per person! And somehow Peter had ended up directly in the center of a rather tight circle of Bat Clan members.

All of a sudden, there was an arm reaching through the mass of bat-themed heroes and Peter was being dragged out of the group. The spider-themed hero thought that the others were so into their argument that they wouldn't even notice him being manhandled out of the group, but, looking back, he saw that they were all glancing at him out of the corners of their eyes, assessing him and the situation, taking it all in and tearing him apart, finding his weaknesses and figuring out how to exploit them. It made his skin crawl and his spider sense flash warningly.

But then he was away from the group and regaining his balance as the pull on his arm stopped. He looked up to see Roy Harper (the Red Arrow, not Arsenal) watching the arguing siblings with an amused, if exasperated, expression, "After a while, you get used to their constant arguing. Probably because they use the same insults every time."

"Are they really mad at each other, or is it just a friendly type of teasing?" Peter asked timidly. He really wasn't the best in groups of people. Sure, in his Spiderman suit he was a lot more bold and happy, but seriously? He was surrounded by tons of heroes that were way more experienced and powerful than he was. He was just an itsy bitsy spider standing among legends.

Roy snorted, "Who even knows? No one can actually tell with them. Sometimes they're kill each other mad and sometimes they do it just for sport, but it looks the same to me. I think they're the only ones who can tell."

"Thanks for saving me from that." Peter said, starting to regain some of that confidence lost in the midst of all these supers. There was something about Roy that just grounded Peter and made him feel like it didn't really matter how he compared to these other heroes. There was something about him that screamed, 'I'm human and there's nothing I can do about it and, yet, I'm still cooler and better than all of you'. Wally had always said that Roy was like that, but it was something different actually experiencing it.

"No problem, kid." Roy responded, glancing out over the collected group of heroes.

Peter scowled, "I'm hardly a kid."

"You're still in school, kid, so you're a kid. Don't worry, I call Wally kid, too." Roy responded, his features softening at the mention of Wally. It was obvious that he really cared about the rambunctious red head. Wally had mentioned that he, Dick, and Roy were unbelievably close. This whole thing must have been really hard on him and yet he was being so strong. It was kind of awesome.

There was a moment of pause where neither of them had any idea as to what to say. The older heroes were pretty much done setting up the traps and now the heroes were milling around, segregated into groups like they were all still in high school. The Avengers were clustered tightly together. The Bat Clan were still arguing, but Batman was now standing behind them with an impressive scowl adorning his face, but a protective tilt of his body. The speedsters were all clustered around each other, chattering about something or another. The original Young Justice Team were standing together, worried, pinched expressions dominating their features, but a forced lightness to their tone. The younger generation of Young Justice were huddled with the Teen Titans, trying to keep kids with kids in the midst of so many adult heroes that had little patience for teen heroes. There were other scatterings of groups that belied old team-ups and old ties. Then there were the few people who stood on the fringes of conversations, standing by themselves and trying not to look as worried as they were. Daredevil was one of those, shadowed by a large white machine. Shadows fell across his face and his red devil horns glinted in the resulting darkness. It was a kind of terrifying image, but Wally had taught Peter that Daredevil wasn't nearly as terrifying as he tried to come off as and he really just needed a bunch of hugs.

So Peter said, "Hey, have you met Daredevil yet? He's the one who took care of Wally over at Marvel."

Roy glanced over to where Peter was looking and raised his eyebrows, "I've seen him around on the dimensional screen and I've seen his and Bat's epic arguments, but I don't think we've officially met."

With that, the two of them walked over to the lonely vigilante. It took a surprisingly long time to get there. People kept stopping them and introducing themselves even though most of them had been introduced via dimensional portal and then there was the obligatory small talk before pretending to spot someone trying to get your attention and walking off. Of course, there was less of that than there would have normally been because a lot of times Roy just kept going and ignored the people, but it still felt overwhelmingly like that Daily Bugle office Christmas party Triple J had forced Peter to go to. He couldn't imagine more different people or a more different situation, but it still had similar elements. That just went to show him that heroes were normal people after all.

But then, suddenly, they were in front of Daredevil and Roy was introducing himself, "Hey, I'm Red Arrow, Wally's friend. You were the one who took care of him most of the time, right?"

"Yes. I'm Daredevil." Daredevil remarked disinterestedly.

"I'm curious, why did you take Wally in?" Roy asked, his eye slits narrowing (seriously?! How did these people do that?) and his head tilting to the side.

"I don't see how that should matter to you." Daredevil rebuked gruffly.

Growling a little bit, Roy bit out, "It matters to me because he's practically my brother. I would do anything for him. So why did you take Wally in?"

There was a moment of pause that almost went beyond acceptable social moment of pause time constraints and Peter thought that Daredevil wasn't going to respond, but then the man grumbled out, "You know he's got advanced senses. I do too. His had recently taken a boost and he wasn't quite in control. I could sympathize. He figured out my secret identity and I couldn't let him run around with that knowledge. He was obviously alone. There's something about him that makes you want to protect him. Some mixture of all those things."

Roy stared at him for a moment before nodding decisively and saying, "Okay. That's good enough. Thanks for looking after him when we couldn't."

And apparently that was all they needed because the two started off a conversation and it certainly went a lot better than when Batman and Daredevil started a conversation. A lot better. The two of them were still their gruff selves and most of their answers were more grunt and growl than word, but it was still sweet to see them getting along for that little (could Peter really call him little since he was now older than Peter) binding factor known as Wally West-Wayne.

The only downside to Matt and Roy's sudden friendship was that Peter was now left standing forlornly alone while the people around him started conversation. Great. Just the usual Parker luck kicking in. This really was just like that office Christmas Party. At least, it was. Until Aqualad and Aquaman rushed into the room and announced gravely, "The Dimensional Light is coming."

AAAAAA

Artemis felt the breath squeeze out of her lungs as the Atlanteans made their announcement and everyone rushed into positions. This was it. This was the moment where they stopped the Dimensional Light from continuing to terrorize the world. And this was the moment where Artemis got her revenge on these monsters who took away almost a year of her time with her fiancé. They've been relentlessly ruining his life – ruining their life and Artemis wasn't going to let them do it ever again. Because she was positive that they were going to win. They had some of the best heroes from this dimension and the Marvel dimension all working together for something they loved and it was an amazing plan that only a Bat could think of. Artemis really was so proud of Dick for thinking this up. She knew that he'd been an amazing leader during the time that Kaldur was undercover and she knew that this was what he was made for. As much as all the Bats (minus Wally) would growl that they 'work alone', they really were great working in teams, as leaders or otherwise. She would have hoped that they'd have learned that by now (some of them regularly work with partners *cough Damian and Colin cough* and still wouldn't admit it; stupid), but with that group, there wasn't a lot of use in hoping.

But then any thoughts were wiped from her mind as the Dimensional Light entered the base. They didn't have any worries about being caught as evidenced by the way that they flounced into the building without any fear. Black Manta had warned them that there was a large amount of lackeys with them, but the amount that stormed the building was truly shocking. They really weren't taking any chances with the supposedly low-level heroes that should be occupying this base.

And then, the first of the traps made itself known. The idea was to separate each of the villains into different rooms where heroes prepared to fight them were lying in wait. Here, in the main room, the remaining heroes would watch the big villains be picked off as they slowly made their way further into the building. The idea was that Vandal Savage and any number of lackeys would be the only ones left by the time they made it to this room. The heroes who fought the other villains would close in behind them and the head of this cursed organization would be surrounded. They would be able to take him easily. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts, she watched as Sinestro was tempted into a sealed chamber by the sight of Hal Jordan waving jauntily at him. Sinestro wouldn't have seen the Hulk crouched behind the large wall from his spot in the hallway. The red skinned alien didn't even have the grace to tell his companions that he was leaving their little group.

Disappointingly, he was taken down rather quickly. Artemis had wanted to see him suffer for the part he'd played in causing Wally so much pain. In hindsight, maybe that was her sister rubbing off on her. Sinestro had floated into the room, a gloating phrase already on his lips when the Hulk had pounced. And wasn't that a terrifying sight. The man who had been a mild mannered, sweet little scientist was now a terrifying, huge, green ball of terror. He smashed things arbitrarily and grinned maniacally while he was doing so. His huge fist bounced off of Sinestro's startled shield and the Hulk roared in frustration. Hal made a quip and formed a battle bot construct around himself, shooting green bullets at Sinestro's shield. The former Green Lantern snarled and tightened his shield before sending back his own volley of bullets. Hulk, who was stuck in the middle, seemed completely unaffected as some whizzed dangerously close to him and the others simply hit him and broke. Once again, terrifying. Eventually, the bullets seemed to enrage the Hulk even more (or maybe he was just sick of being bored; it was hard to tell either way) and he jumped at Sinestro again, landing feet first on top of the spherical yellow construct. The Hulk's green feet broke right through it and smashed down on Sinestro. The alien was barely able to roll out of the way.

He actually didn't get entirely out of the way. His arm took the brunt of the Hulk's spectacular landing. The crunch was audible through the speakers and a lot of the people in the main room winced in sympathy for the villain. Artemis wasn't sure if that arm would ever heal.

But then her attention was dragged to a different screen as a well-timed burst of speed created lightning that sparkled, catching the eye of Klarion and his familiar, Teekl. Once again, the villain didn't say anything to his comrades and simply left. Artemis wasn't even sure if the others had even noticed their fellow villains' departures. Then again, Ra's al Ghul probably had. He was very Batman-esque in that aspect. Or maybe Batman was Ra's al Ghul-esque? Jade would probably know. The next time Artemis came over to babysit Lian, she would ask. Either way, the general lack of commentary made Artemis think that maybe the Dimensional Light wasn't as put together as they'd thought it was. They seemed to be falling apart at the seams. Evidently it was hard to keep a villain group together. Who would have guessed? Then again, the Rogues didn't seem to have that much of a problem. Maybe that was due more to the speedsters there than anything else. Speaking of which, Barry and Jay were zipping around the room (it had been decided that Bart and Johnny would stay out of the fight as much as they could because they had just ran between dimensions several times and that's pretty taxing), trying to confuse Teekl. It was working.

With an angry yowl, the cat familiar grew to two, three, five, ten times its original size. Another yowl – this time a lot louder and a lot scarier – and the speedsters scattered. It was good timing too because a bolt of lightning came down from the ceiling, smashing into the creature and scorching his fur, knocking the cat onto its side where it whimpered pitifully and thrashed with the after effects of getting electrocuted. Klarion didn't even get a chance to scream when an arrow was shot, straight and true, into Teekl's side, burying itself in the soft fur of the familiar's neck. Even though Artemis loved Uncle Ollie like an actual uncle and he was her absolute hero, she could appreciate good archery and, wow, that was impressive. That was more than impressive. That Hawkeye had practically flawless form and abilities. It was amazing to witness and Artemis would love to see Hawkeye and Oliver battle it out.

Whatever was in the arrow buried in Teekl's neck did something because it wasn't long before Teekl was out cold, lax against the cold concrete floor of the room they were in. Those were some impressive high-grade sedatives. Klarion didn't seem to be as impressed as Artemis though because he screamed and threw out both his hands. The room lit with an eerie red light and his face took on a manic tilt that made Artemis believe that this monster was the original model of the devil. Then Barry and Jay were running circles around Klarion, taking turns hitting him as they ran. Artemis wasn't sure what they were doing until she realized it was a distraction. She almost hadn't noticed the woman creeping along the exposed beams of the room. Once the woman – Black Widow if Artemis remembered correctly – was positioned directly above where Klarion was being kept by the two speedsters, Black Widow flipped around and fell backwards through the air, arms out.

As it started to look like she was going to land back first on the villain, Black Widow turned in midair, curling her legs in and starting a tight roll through the air. Dick whistled appreciatively from next to Artemis. When the former assassin got close enough, Black Widow jabbed both hands into the sides of Klarion's neck. Artemis hadn't realized what had happened until she saw the little bursts of blue static at the points where Black Widow had jabbed the villain. Tasers.

Using the two Tasers pressed against both sides of the villain's neck as an anchor point, Black Widow allowed her body to unfurl, gripping Klarion high on the chest with her thighs and once again twisting in midair. Klarion rolled with a surprised oof, moving with the movement of her hips. He was slammed into the ground, still convulsing from the Taser shocks. Black Widow continued to roll the fall off, eventually landing in a crouched position that looked hot. Artemis had to get Black Widow to teach her everything. Barry sped in and locked Klarion's arms with some magic cuffs designed by Doctor Fate (who was currently protecting Mr. Terrific). The group stood back and smiled at their work, taking a breather before they started to go back to the main room to face the main villain.

Artemis smiled to herself – this was going great! Everything was working out perfectly! Then she frowned; that was wrong. Nothing ever went perfectly. If everything was going perfectly, that meant that something was going to go horribly wrong soon.

Firmly pushing the negative thoughts from her mind, Artemis focused on the next battle. It quickly became obvious that she'd jinxed them. The heroes were losing. The room wasn't stocked well enough to deal with the threat in a timely matter. Artemis guessed that they'd assumed that it would be more than enough, but it wasn't. The sound-proofed room was locked tight and the walls were encased in a material that was even Kryptonian resistant, so Black Adam, who had been tricked into the room by a fake telepathic message that was sent by Martian Manhunter from the main room, wasn't getting out any time soon, but that didn't seem to matter because the heroes in there weren't going to get out any time soon either. Superman, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man were fighting for their lives in that gym sized room and they were really testing out the materials of the wall.

Artemis could barely count the number of times each of them were slammed into walls. Iron Man's missiles did little to nothing to stop the villain. Superman used his laser vision to get Black Adam right in the eyes and the villain was thrown against the wall, but then he looked up and blinked and he was completely fine. It was unbelievable! Captain Marvel punched him and threw him into another wall and Superman blew a breath of frozen air right into Black Adam's face, but the man just forged through it and smashed Superman into the floor with a vicious right hook. Nothing they were doing was working!

In the confusion, Iron Man yelled something and Captain Marvel nodded with a grin. Artemis hadn't caught what they'd said over the sounds of Superman and Black Adam taking turns pounding each other into the floor, but they understood each other and moved to different spots in the room. It was obvious Iron Man had suggested some sort of plan. Artemis sat forward a little bit, as if that would better help her see what was going on.

Captain Marvel rubbed his hands together and gathered as much lightning as he could. When Superman manhandled Black Adam into the center of the room, Iron Man tackled the villain into the ground, wrapping his alloy covered limbs around the villain. Little bits of metal on his suit moved and out came metal bands. Artemis watched in fascination as they were ejected from his suit and he fell back onto his back. Just as Black Adam was reaching back to grab him, Iron Man shot out from beneath the black-clad villain. The metal bands that had kept Black Adam from escaping Iron Man's grasp slammed into the ground, Black Adam trapped beneath them. Before the man could move, Superman came slamming down onto him. Looking closely, however, Artemis saw that Superman was actually slamming into the metal bars over Black Adam's body, pushing them farther into the ground and restricting his air at the same time.

Superman moved out of the way and Captain Marvel didn't waste a second throwing all the lightning he'd gathered directly onto Black Adam who was trapped and powerless to escape the full power of the blast. He was knocked out instantly and he probably wouldn't be getting up again for a long time. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Artemis leaned back in her position. There weren't many more battles to go.

Lex Luthor was next. His bait was simple – a replica of Mercy, his assistant. It was obvious that the curiosity would get the better of him. What wasn't expected was him slyly getting the attention of the Brain and Monsieur Mallah. Artemis heard Dick curse next to her before whispering in his comms device. The rule was that no one was supposed to use any comms whatsoever unless there was a serious problem that needed to be addressed. Luckily there hadn't been a need until now, but… Dick called in the people from the room where Brain was supposed to end up trapped. They were prepared to fight Brain, but the thing was that they were farther down the hall. Meaning that if they left the room, they'd be walking directly into the group of villains making their way towards the main room. There was no way that they could leave now. That meant that the people from the old rooms had to make their way to Lex Luthor's trap. They'd have to be completely silent, though, otherwise the echoes would alert their presence to the villains. This would be a dangerous situation for whoever made the trek. There was a chance that Black Canary and Green Arrow could deal with this alone, but no one wanted to risk it. Some of the other rooms had seemed like overkill, but this definitely was not overkill. This was underkill in the most dangerous sense of the word.

Watching the screen as Ollie and Dinah prepared to fight and the door slammed into a locked position behind the villains, Artemis bit her lip, feeling useless. She knew that it was good that she was here and she reminded herself that she wanted to be here so she could get revenge on the ringleader who had caused the love of her life so many pain and woes, but at the same time her almost uncle was in a really dangerous position and she could have been in there helping him instead and still made it to the main fight eventually. Why was she so selfish?

Pushing the thoughts from her mind (she'd been doing that a lot; she'd have a lot to talk to Wally about when he came home), she focused on the fight in front of her. Black Canary had screamed the moment the door had locked; Oliver already had his special cuffs over his ears – he wouldn't be hurt by his girlfriend. They fought together so well. The Brain went scooting back, but, remarkably, his container held. Monsieur Mallah went flying head over heels and Lex Luthor was thrown against the door he'd just entered through. Oliver wasted no time in shooting off an arrow that turned into a rope that wrapped itself around Luthor and efficiently cut him out of the fight. Oliver had another arrow notched and shot in less than a moment. It was aimed for the glass in the Brain's container, but a robotic arm shot out of the metal sides of the Brain's container. It plucked the arrow out of the air and then let it go. The arrow stayed in the air and then started racing back through the air towards Green Arrow. The Brain was using his telepathy. Curse him!

Black Canary was engaged in a battle with Mallah. The gorilla was firing off with his machine gun, aiming precisely. Black Canary flipped and twisted in the air to avoid the bullets. Miraculously, not a single one hit. She let loose her Canary Cry again and Mallah went flying back.

Green Arrow was able to shoot his old arrow out of the air with a new one. He fired seven arrows in rapid succession, making sure to aim at different areas of the Brain's container. The Brain grabbed two in each hand, stopping another two with his telekinesis. He missed the seventh though and that sharp tipped arrow severed straight through one of his robotic arms. One of the arrows held in his mind's grip suddenly exploded, covering the Brain in rapidly hardening polyurethane. The Brain was stuck.

Mallah flipped in the air and landed on his feet, already letting loose another spray of bullets. Black Canary was already on top of him though, flipping over him and grabbing the machine gun's tip, facing it away from her and jabbing the gorilla in the throat. Monsieur Mallah choked, but then roared. Although it didn't have the same explosive quality of BC's shout, it was still enough to startle the hero who wasn't expecting it. Artemis saw Black Canary's grip shift for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for the incredibly strong mentally enhanced gorilla to get the machine gun in position and fire.

It took everything Artemis had to not cry out.

Green Arrow had no such compunctions and started rapid firing arrows at the gorilla who just shot the love of his life. Black Canary was on the ground, her hair thrown out in a golden halo around her head, her hand pressed to her bleeding chest. She was gasping in pain and wincing every time she gasped. The blood quickly spread.

Monsieur Mallah blocked a few shots with his machine gun, but when he turned the gun on Green Arrow, the archer made sure to send an exploding arrow straight down the barrel of the gun. Mallah was thrown back by the blast that completely destroyed his gun. Green Arrow shot a polyurethane arrow at the gorilla before walking over and punching the creature across the face. Not many people could claim that they punched a gorilla into unconsciousness, but Green Arrow was now one of them. Flash and Wally could probably claim that too, in all honesty.

But then Artemis gasped because she looked back over to where Black Canary was bleeding out. Rather, where a recently freed Lex Luthor was leaning over a bleed out Black Canary. He was crouched behind her with a gun to her temple, leaning close enough to be threatening, but far enough away that she couldn't reach him in her state.

Green Arrow notched his bow and pulled back all in one smooth, fast movement that Artemis would never be able to replicate no matter how long she trained. There was a deadly anger on his face that Artemis wasn't used to seeing on the kind and normally jovial emerald archer. It was terrifying.

Luthor didn't seem to be affected by it because he simply stared back evenly, a small smirk gracing the corners of his lips. For a long moment, no one moved. They were at a standstill. No one could make a move without someone getting killed. Artemis held her breath as she waited for the defining moment. Who would win?

And then, suddenly, it didn't matter that Green Arrow couldn't shoot because the other heroes had arrived. An arrow came spinning out of an air vent that Artemis hadn't noticed until Hawkeye was occupying it. The arrow shot through Luthor's hand, going straight through the trigger of the gun and burying itself in the floor, the gun trapped on the length of the arrow. Before Luthor could even react to the pain, Black Widow was behind him, sticking her two Tasers into the sides of his neck and roundhouse kicking him into oblivion. She quickly cuffed him. The three heroes easily started treating Black Canary who was still gasping on the floor.

Glancing over to another screen, Artemis realized that the fighting with General Zod was almost over. The younger generation of Young Justice League and Captain America (who had initially been highly uncomfortable with the idea of fighting with a bunch of kids until one of the said kids kicked his butt – you can try to figure out who yourself – and he reluctantly admitted that they were skilled enough even if he still thought they were too young) had taken the man by storm, tearing into him with all the skill of young heroes who had tons of older heroes to learn from and all the skill of a hero who started the hero movement in his dimension. Despite the fact that Captain America had never worked with them before and they didn't take well to adults trying to lead them, Captain America led the team of young heroes perfectly. He understood that he didn't have a full working knowledge of their powers and individual skills, so he gave them enough leeway to work that out for themselves, but he still gave the enough direction so they weren't all attacking willy nilly and getting in each other's ways. It was kind of amazing to watch. It was too bad that Artemis was still caught on Black Canary gasping out her pain in the other room.

Shaking her head and once again pushing away the errant thoughts that she'd sort out when Wally came home, Artemis watched as Wonder Girl and Static delivered the knockout punch at the same time. General Zod was out of the game.

The traps were being set off more rapidly apparently since Queen Bee was already engaged in her own battle. Artemis had missed whatever trap had lured her in, but she figured it was something to do with M'gann and Beast Boy. Queen Bee had an unhealthy obsession with the two of them. Those two were currently pounding Queen Bee into the ground. Whatever she'd done had created a long, rapidly bleeding gash on Beast Boy's currently reptilian arm and Miss Martian was sporting an ugly bruise on her forehead that was obviously affecting her telepathic abilities. Luckily, though, Daredevil was in there with them, staying low and whipping out at the woman with short little billy clubs that seemed to pack more of a punch than Artemis would have guessed. She raised her eyebrows as Daredevil did some serious parkour moves and easily took Queen Bee down while M'gann and Garfield had her distracted. Seven villains down. Two more to go.

By now, Vandal Savage and Ra's al Ghul had definitely noticed their missing teammates. They had angrily turned on Black Manta, ready to accuse him of being a traitor, but he was already gone, having slipped out a side door during the fights. He was currently standing next to Kaldur. Aquaman was standing protectively on Kaldur's other side and it was halfway between sad and funny the way that Black Manta and Aquaman were trying to simultaneously be closer to Kaldur than the other and try to be as far away from each other as possible. That was going to be a struggle once this whole thing with Wally blew over. Then again, with Wally there, maybe it wouldn't be. He had a way of making everything go easier.

Ra's al Ghul was obviously arguing with Savage, saying that they should go back because this was definitely a trap, but Savage wasn't having it. He stormed ahead, saying that Ra's al Ghul could leave if he was such a coward, but he wasn't going to stand there and take this embarrassment. Savage would kill Black Manta if it was the last thing he did. Apparently.

Ra's al Ghul was evidently prideful because he followed Vandal Savage's retreating figure, hurrying to catch up even as he kept a scowl on his face. He didn't get far, however, before there was a batarang slamming into his side and sending him crashing through an open doorway that hadn't been opened a moment before.

The room he was thrown into was so dark that Artemis almost couldn't make out what was going on. She saw shadows flitting across the room, taking on vague shapes of capes and men and monsters. If the Bat Clan fought like this all the time, it was understandable why all of Gotham was terrified of the city's protectors. This was terrifying. In all honesty, a lot of these heroes were terrifying.

Artemis watched as who she believed was Nightwing clashed swords with Ra's al Ghul, rolling out of the way just in time for (maybe) Batman to go against the head of the League of Assassins with his batarangs and his gadgets. (Maybe) Abuse's arm shot out and attempted to smash into the back of Ra's al Ghul's head, but he twisted at the last moment and Abuse hit metal instead, screaming out as his arm was cut. (Maybe) Nightwing's sword met Ra's al Ghul's again as the eldest Wayne son fought for his injured husband. Bullets came whizzing from (most likely) Red Hood's gun and suddenly (probably) Red Robin's bow staff was slamming into Ra's al Ghul's knees. The old man toppled over, but then rolled away from the cluster of Bats. Directly into (maybe) Spoiler and (probably) Black Bat's grasp. They set on him immediately, efficiently taking out the injured man.

Eight down. One to go. This was it.


	18. Chapter 18

WWWWWW

"Wally. What are you doing here?" Barry's voice was tired and more than a little confused, but it was still loud enough to wake Wally from his little nap.

Wally blinked up at the man who had helped him, a stranger, so much in the past few weeks. This was a truly amazing man. Unfortunately, Wally's speaking capabilities were not currently as amazing, "Huh?" His voice cracked through it and he winced. Honestly, it wasn't like he was fourteen again. Well, again again. Since he was fourteen twice. His life was just too complicated.

Barry smiled indulgently and settled himself against the wall Wally had his wheelchair pushed against, "What are you doing down here? We all thought you were in the med bay resting – where you should be. We went in to see if you were up to watching a movie in the Cortex with us, but then you weren't there. You freaked Connor out – which is terrifying by the way. I thought for sure he was going to break something. But then Cisco started looking through the cameras and found you sitting down here alone. You okay?"

Shrugging, Wally leaned back into his seat, "No? I don't know. I feel really happy because I'm finally about to go home. It's been almost a year and soon I won't have to worry about the Dimensional Light and we've figured out travel so I'll be able to visit everyone whenever, so I'm super excited about all of that."

"But?" Barry prompted.

"But… I'm tired. I'm so tired of this. Yeah, I'll be going home and being with everyone I love, but how long until I can't be with them anymore? How long until I get taken away again trying to save the world? Do you know how exhausting it is to keep getting so close to succeeding and then having that success torn away from you before you even get a change to get a firm grip and fight back? I finally get a family – the Light puts them under mind control and I feel like I can't get back to them. I finally feel like I've got them back and all my friends are friends again and safe – Kaldur has to go undercover with the Light and those of us who know have to pretend to hate him. He finally breaks cover and everyone is happy and understands – I get sucked into another dimension by a device that was planted there due to the idiocy of the Light. I'm making breakthroughs on getting home – the Light hires Loki to kidnap me. I end up free and back with the Avengers and we're making even more breakthroughs – the Light sends Reverse Flash to kill me. I'm literally on my way home – I get sucking into another dimension. We're getting close to finding the way home again – the Dimensional Light sends Reverse Flash to kidnap me. I mean, seriously? When is it going to stop? How many times did we think that we had the Light defeated only for them to come back bigger and stronger? I'm sick and tired of it!"

Wally chanced a look over at his mentor's Earth-1 doppelganger. Barry was staring straight ahead, biting his lip slightly and curling his shoulders in. When he spoke, his voice was serious, "My life was going great. Everyone was happy and the only problems were a few bullies here or there – then Reverse Flash killed my mom. I worked on unexplainable case after unexplainable case after unexplainable case – there were no results. All of them ended up explainable. All of them ended up not helping. Then I got powers. I got powers and I faced tons of unexplainable cases that I could explain – that I could use to explain my mom's murder. But it didn't work that way. It didn't help. In the long run, I found out that someone I trusted killed my mom. And I couldn't do anything. I fought against him and fought against him and eventually had other people help me fight against him, but it wasn't working. Even after I caught him, I was too stupid and I let him go and I started fighting him again, but I wasn't good enough. I was not good enough to defeat Eobard Thawne. So someone else defeated him for me. Someone who had never signed up for this, never wanted this life, defeated the Reverse Flash. And I realized that I wasn't weak. I just needed some help. I needed to step back and let someone else do this thing for me. It doesn't mean I couldn't handle it. It doesn't mean that any of that was my fault. It just means that… I wasn't meant to fight that battle. You weren't supposed to fight this one."

"So, you're saying that since I'm not fighting this, my friends can stop the Dimensional Light?" Wally asked. He wasn't quite sure where Barry was going with this.

Barry turned to face Wally head on (and Wally still caught his breath every time he looked someone in the eye because he can do that now), "Think about all the things you wouldn't have if this hadn't happened. You wouldn't have anyone from Earth-1 or Earth-2 or Marvel. The technology share and superhero assistance that we'll get out of this will be world changing. A ton of bad guys are now in jail. I mean, Zoom coming to this Earth happened before the Dimensional Light had even hired him according to that Black Manta person. He would have come anyways and he would have broken my back instead, but I wouldn't have had the support you did. You saved me through these experiences. Your senses are increases. Your speed is increased. You can see now. This was meant to be." His voice, caught up in the moment of excitement, died down into something softer and yet, still more powerful, "Jay Garrick and I talked a lot about the Speed Force and he showed me that the Speed Force wants the good guys to win. You gave the Speed Force another speedster. You added to its power. The Speed Force will always love you for that. You've been… I guess you've almost been blessed by it."

Wally let his voice hold the same afflictions Barry's did, "Do you ever wonder how the Speed Force came to be? Do you ever wonder why it chose us? I was seven years old. My mother and father hated each other, but they hated me more. I think they blamed me for them hating each other. My father beat me all the time and my mom just watched. Sometimes she laughed. I didn't have any friends. I was consistently bullied. I was shy enough in school that the teachers didn't notice that I knew more than I should for my age. There was nothing special about me. So why was I chosen?"

"I was a forensic scientist who had wasted his entire life chasing the impossible and letting people walk all over me. I was late to everything and I stayed as close to the wall as I could during social functions. My dad was in jail and my mom was dead. Joe was there for me and I love him like a father, but he was always closer to Iris. I was head over heels for her, too. I don't know what the Speed Force saw in us. I guess I've always thought of my speed being that special characteristic, but what about before the speed?" Barry added in. His voice sounded kind of sad now.

Wally's did too, "Others, like Oliver and Roy and Cisco and Batman and Robin and so many other heroes, they fought for their ability to save people. Mine came from a freak accident."

"Mine came from my arch enemy trying to give me my powers so he could send himself back into the future." Barry deadpanned. The two of them were silent for a long moment before they both burst out laughing, clutching their sides and wheezing out the breath, both of them still not quite at their best after their encounters with Zoom.

When they finally caught their breaths again, Barry spoke up, "Come on, let's go watch that movie."

Wally shook his head with a smile, "Nah, I've got a different kind of thing to watch."

Barry frowned worriedly, "Want me to come down there with you?"

"No," Wally replied, smile still in place as he grabbed the joystick on the wheelchair and started wheeling himself down the hallway, "No, I think I'll be fine. Go watch the movie with your friends. Tomorrow I'll start researching on how to get me home. I think we almost have the fluxes that were caused by the singularity pinned down."

Before Barry could say something in response (probably try to convince Wally that going down to the dimensional screen room to watch his friends fight Savage was not a good idea), Conner came up behind them and started pushing Wally down the hallway. Barry spoke up, taking a step closer to them, "Conner… what?"

"We're going to go watch our friends. It' called moral support." Conner grunted out.

Barry smiled and shook his head, "I hope, for your guys' sake, that everything goes well. If you ever want to stop watching, just come up by us and join us with the movie." They nodded and smiled politely, but Wally knew that neither of them were going to go and join them for the movie. This was life or death for them. This was their family. Conner had said that the original team were the ones who were going to go up against Savage while the other heroes took on the lackeys. Savage was dangerous. Wally would know since he's fought the man before. Even if they were stuck here and couldn't actually help them, they would be there for them. They would watch and they would care and they would cheer them on in every way they could. They would not abandon their family.

So they two went down the familiar hallway without talking. The only sounds were Conner's deceptively light footsteps and the whooshing, buzzing sounds Wally's wheelchair made as it moved. It wasn't long before they found themselves in the dimensional portal room. It was obvious that everyone was ready for a fight.

The original Young Justice Team was stood up on a platform in the middle of the room. Wally could barely spot the other heroes lying in hidden places around the room. There were so many of them. Wally could see a platform of screens on the front wall, all depicting different rooms. He saw signs of battles in every one, but the villains had been cleared out – probably transported up to the Watchtower for safe holding until they could be transferred to a prison like Bell Reeves. There were still heroes here and there, though. The heroes were lying on the floor, obviously exhausted. Some were injured and others were just winded. Wally saw ominously large bloodstains in one room. He was pretty sure Black Canary and Green Arrow had been assigned that room if his memory of the plans Conner had told him served correctly. He really hoped it hadn't been too serious. He hoped he wouldn't have to come home to a death on his hands. If anyone died during this… it would all be his fault.

He was distracted from those thoughts by the arrival of the enemy. His breath caught in his throat and for a moment, all Wally could see were the grimy walls of that prison in Antarctica. They were layered with his blood and the room was cold, so cold. All he could feel was the cold and the pain and there was no savior. He knew, rationally, that he hadn't been there that long, but an hour feels like a day and a day feels like a week and a week feels like a month to a speedster and it's been a month and no one was saving him and he was never going to get out and what was even the point and why is he fighting so hard to keep this information away and then he remembers that he can't let this Loki person into his dimension because Loki was hurting him and would hurt his friends and he didn't want his friends hurt but he just wanted to getoutbecausehedidn'tlikesmallspacesandhewantedoutwantedoutgethimoutoutoutoutout –

A pair of heavy, but comfortable arms wrapped around his torso and he was effortlessly picked up and settled in someone's lap, his head tucked under their chin. Wally blinked away the panic attack, still having a hard time breathing. Conner rocked them back and forth slightly, but didn't say anything and Wally found himself hard pressed not to cry. Wally took several more shaky, not quite complete breaths before he just let himself sag against his friend, turning himself a little bit so he could face the dimensional screen. There were no words needed to thank Conner for doing this and there were no words needed to make sure Wally was comfortable.

This was a scene that had played out several times over the years since that first stormy night that Wally had stumbled into the communal room of Mount Justice and Conner had hugged him. But, at the moment, that didn't matter. What mattered was the fight that was about to erupt in front of them.

During Wally's flashback, Vandal Savage had finished performing his angry super-villain-I-hate-the-world-and-will-take-it-over-because-it-would-be-better-with-me-in-charge-and-you-won't-stop-me speech and was preparing to start his fight. All the lackeys were hovering in the background trying to look intimidating. It was a scene that was burned into every hero's memory. After a while, this scene plays out almost weekly and you can follow along easily. Most of the time, the hero won. Wally could only hope that this was one of those times.

Savage attacks first. He has the advantage of having slightly increased speed, strength, and stamina, but Robin – the one he went for first – has the advantage of being, well, Robin. He's a Bat. Even better, he's a circus Bat. Savage threw a knife at Robin, who easily dodged with a flip into the air. As Robin was descending, Savage threw another knife, this one in a straight collision course with Robin's eye. With a move only a circus kid could know, Robin twisted in the air and grabbed the knife, sending it flying to harmlessly hit the wall behind him. He hadn't had enough momentum to twist back as he fell and aim it at Vandal, so a spot where the immortal couldn't get it would have to do apparently.

Robin rolled out of the way as a stream of water clashed against another knife. Aqualad threw himself at his opponent, trusting Artemis's arrows to knock the incoming knives out of the way. Aqualad finally reached Savage and started elegantly slashing at him with his swords, twirling in and out of the fight.

There was obviously some sort of mind link going on because a moment later, Aqualad rolled back out of the way and a telekinetically controlled crate smashed into Savage's side. Wally grinned as he realized that Savage had probably underestimated them again. The team was a far cry from what they were when he had fought them all that time ago at the Watchtower. They were so much better now with experience and power and the bonds that could only be grown through heartbreak and guilt and betrayal and rekindled friendships. Wally finally felt a part of his heart settle. There was no need for him to freak out. There was no need for him to worry. There was no way Savage was going to win. Wally was finally going to be free. He was finally going to be free!

Wally watched as all the people he called Aunt and Uncle fought to protect him, taking out thugs and lackeys and villains left and right.

He watched as his youngest older brother fought to protect him, flipping and twisting and tossing his batarangs, cape fluttering and an intense expression accompanying that familiar cackle. The former acrobat became an acrobat again as he danced through the air and he was doing it all for Wally. He was fighting there that day for his younger brother.

He watched as one of his first hero friends fought valiantly with his water bearers and his electricity, small glances continuously thrown as his teammates to make sure that the ones he was in charge of were alright. The Atlantean was such a great friend and truly deserved the title of leader that they had bestowed him with. He was fighting there that day for his teammate.

He watched as the sweetest girl he's ever had the pleasure of becoming friends with floated in the air and threw objects, obviously controlling a mind link that kept everyone glued together. The Martian obviously relished the chance to do the right thing and be a part of something where she was accepted like she never was on her home world. She was fighting there that day for her very dear friend.

He watched as the love of his life drew back arrow after arrow, occasionally ducking in close to throw an extra punch or kick or powerhouse blow. The archer had been trained as an assassin and it showed in the fluid way she moved and the calculated hits she landed, but she'd struggled towards justice and that showed in the way she held back and the trick arrows she used. She was fighting there that day for her fiancé.

He watched as his team fought for him.

He watched as they won.


	19. Chapter 19

WWWWWW

Wally stared at the swirling, twisting portal in front of him. This was it. This was finally the way home. They'd finished the research needed and they'd stabilized the portal and Wally had healed enough to be able to run through the portal. The colors of the portal distracted him for a moment – it looked like a mass of lightning and Wally couldn't help the small part of him that whispered that it looked like the Speed Force twirling in that depth and he wasn't sure if that terrified him or exhilarated him. He decided on settling on a middle emotion of charged nervousness. At his back were all of the people whose lives he'd managed to touch in his time here; and wasn't that amazing? All these people took the time out of their horribly busy and complicated lives to help him and save him and send him home and he would never – never – be able to prove how much that meant to him. He could only hope that they called on him from time to time and he could help them then. That was as close to repayment as he would ever be able to get.

Barry dropped a hand on Wally's shoulder before pulling the redhead into a hug, tightening his arms around him and dropping his chin on Wally's shoulder, taking a deep breath that Wally felt more than heard. Wally didn't say anything, simply accepting the hug and reciprocating.

This man was the first person that Wally had seen in almost twelve years. The last thing Wally had seen was a knife bearing down on his eyes and even though he'd hated his loss of sight, he'd been uneasy about the idea of ever getting his eyes back because sight was a part of his life that he'd happily left behind. In his mind, sight equaled his hometown equaled his parents equaled pain and he knew that he would never leave the life he had now to go back to what he had before. Sometimes this life sucked (moments in the past eight or nine months were testament to that) and sometimes he was so furious with his messed up family that he had to run a few laps around the world before he could even calm down enough to think straight and sometimes he spent hours crying in a tree in the mansion's backyard, but he'd never go back to what he had before. Nothing was worth that.

And Wally would never leave the people he loved like that. He'd fought so hard to make this family of his. It was a big family made up of the Young Justice League, the Teen Titans, the Bat Clan, the Justice League, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, other assorted heroes, and even a few villains here and there. It was perfect. He'd spent years drawing people out and carefully working through their defenses with his speedster charm that a lot of heroes liked to say was a speedster's true power. Wally loved each member of that huge family individually and hoped to continue to add people to it. He would never leave them. Not willingly at least. Even in other dimensions he'd found ways to talk to them, to be with them, to hear them.

And now he got to go back to them. Better yet, he got to go back to all of them. With what they'd figured out with all of the trans-dimensional portals, speedsters would easily be able to travel between them. The Justice League would make sure to monitor the portal in Antarctica. SHEILD would protect the portal in the air about Hell's Kitchen. Barry and his friends would watch the portal here in STAR labs. Jay Garrick was already working on setting up protection for the portal in Zoom's old hideout.

Everything was finally coming together after a long life of struggles and hardships and Wally couldn't help but think back to what Barry had said about the Speed Force blessing him. Maybe it was true. He'd certainly fought hard enough to be blessed. Wally knew that the rest of his life wasn't going to be easy – it never was in the life he'd chosen – but he knew that it was going to be easier than it could have been if he hadn't been through what he'd been through.

Shaking his head and removing himself from Barry's embrace only to find himself folded into Iris's, Wally determined that he wasn't going to think such deep thoughts. He was going to have plenty of time for that later when he was home and in the arms of the woman he loved. Giddy enjoyment filled his heart as he remembered her saying yes when he'd asked her to marry him. Artemis had been so happy and he'd been so happy even though he was talking to her while in a prison cell in a helicarrier in a different dimension. It was so not how he'd been planning to pop the question, but it'd had to do because what else was he supposed to do? How else was he supposed to show her how much he loved her, how much he wanted – needed – her? Artemis was his world and he needed to show her that even from where he was.

And now he was going back to her. Smiling softly to himself as he was passed from hug to hug, Wally decided that he was going to spend no more than an hour with the heroes gathered in Antarctica for him before he swept Artemis into his arms and ran her all the way home to Brucely and the quaint little house they owned in Palo Alto. He'd deal with Wally West-Wayne miraculously coming back to life (it's not like the family didn't have practice with explaining a son that was declared dead suddenly coming back) later. He'd deal with revealing himself as Kid Flash (maybe going back to being Falcon or even becoming something completely different) later. He'd deal with telling the people who weren't involved that he was home (Linda and John and Queen Perdita and the Rogues) later.

Or maybe he would speed him and Artemis over to their house, grab Brucely, and then run the two of them (his own little family) home to the mansion and stay there for a while to get back into the groove of things. Then he'd have his own little family and the family that had adopted him all those years ago.

Wally would flit from his house to the mansion to Artemis's mom's house to Uncle B's house to the Garrick's house to the Mountain (or wherever they were staying now; he kept forgetting that the Mountain wasn't there anymore) to wherever there were people who wanted him because he wanted them too. He was so close. And it was going to work this time. He felt it in his bones in a way that he couldn't describe, didn't even want to try to take the words to describe. There was just this feeling that told him that this whole ordeal was over and that he'd be home soon. And, despite how many times he'd been disappointed, he decided to trust this feeling just this once. He would trust it and hope and he'd be home.

Once everyone had finished hugging him, they starting setting things up. He'd start running around the room the moment they started a countdown. They'd start at fifteen and, once they reached zero, he'd have gained enough momentum to run through the portal. Max Mercury would take Conner through after him (apparently he was still too weak to carry someone as big as the half-Kryptonian). The countdown started and Wally was vividly reminded of the first time he tried to get home.

"Fifteen." Barry Allen. Oliver Queen. Iris West. Cisco Ramon.

"Fourteen." Matt Murdock. Foggy Nelson. Peter Parker. Johnny Storm.

"Thirteen." Barry Allen. Artemis Crock. Bruce Wayne. Dick Grayson.

"Twelve." Caitlin Snow. Joe West. Roy Harper. Ronnie Raymond.

"Eleven." Steve Rogers. Nick Fury. Natasha Romanoff. Loki Laufeyson.

"Ten." Damian Wayne. Conner Kent. Hal Jordan. M'gann M'rozz.

"Nine." Martin Stein. Jay Garrick. John Diggle. Thea Queen.

"Eight." Sue Storm. Reed Richards. Tony Stark. Clint Barton.

"Seven." Colin Wilkes. Jason Todd. Kaldur'ahm. Alfred Pennyworth.

"Six." STAR labs. The Arrow Cave. The West house.

"Five." Matt's house. The Avenger Tower. The helicarrier.

"Four." The mansion. The Mountain. The house at Palo Alto.

"Three." Finally getting his sight for the first time.

"Two." Increased senses and speed.

"One." The place where his life started.

"Zero." An extra burst of speed and a flash of white light and the world twisting and turning and bending and shrinking around him and his molecules are rearranging themselves and switching around and floating back together again as he finally comes through and…

The room he'd been staring into for weeks came into focus and Wally couldn't do anything but stand there as his whole world rushed up to him and grabbed him around the middle and tousled his hair and gripped his hand and patted his shoulder. Wally felt tears gather in eyes that finally weren't useless as he burst into motion, burying his face into blonde hair that smelled like home, gripping onto a glove that sheltered what he knew to be an acrobat and superhero calloused hand, leaning into the firm hand that felt of the Speed Force that was buried in his hair, using his free hand to grip onto the glove of the person he considered his real father. The tears slipped past, falling down his face as he hiccupped in his joy, trying to get his emotions under control as his senses worked in overdrive to take in everything that he'd missed in the months he'd been gone.

The scents of joy and sweat and gunpowder and blood and lovingly cleaned weapons permeated the air. The taste of a science lab settled around Wally like a blanket. The feeling of his family surrounding him served to press that blanket tighter around him until all Wally felt was comfort. The sounds of everyone he loved crying, laughing, cheering, just talking because they were all alive and safe filled the air around him and didn't sound as overwhelming as it usually did. And, finally, the sight of those he loves for the first time in the flesh instead of slightly distorted through a dimensional screen.

It wasn't long before Wally had the love of his life swept into his arms and the wind brushing around him like a loving friend. The world disappeared under his feet and he felt like he was flying as he ran – ran into the light.

The End


End file.
